It was a family affair for one Aberdeen graduate yesterday as she picked up her degree in front of hundreds of fellow achievers.
Kirsty Gordon from Cults was understandably proud about her time at Aberdeen University after collecting her degree in Real Estate.
The 21-year-old said that, while she was thrilled at gaining her degree, her abiding memory of student life was the close camaraderie with international students which had allowed her to make friends all over the globe.
She said: “University has been so much fun, but it is all the people I have met that have made the experience for me.
“As Aberdeen is very international, I have had the opportunity to meet people from Sweden and a lot of Nordic countries, so it means that, in the future, I can go and visit people from all over and I truly think that is one of the beauties of going to university – you meet all kinds of people, who are growing into young adults together.”
With several members of her family having gained university qualifications, Miss Gordon was delighted to share the prized moment with her loved ones.
She added: “University does run in my family, my mum has a PHD and my uncle went to Cambridge, so seeing their ambitions from a young age, I wanted to do well for myself too.
“My sister also went to Glasgow University, so when I went to university, my parents were very open to letting me move out and get the full university experience.
“Living away from my parents has made me much more independent and my cooking has really improved drastically…well, as long as it was chicken.”
The former Cults Academy pupil said: “My family is here today along with friends from home and university and my boyfriend so to see everyone here supporting me is quite incredible and it feels great.”
Miss Gordon is now preparing to take on a graduate job at FG Burnett as a graduate surveyor.