A Latvian woman said it is a “dream come true” to graduate in Aberdeen after moving to the country in 2008.
Nora Bandyopadhyay, 36, graduated with an HND in textiles from North East Scotland College (Nescol) at Aberdeen Music Hall today.
After arriving in Scotland from the Baltic country in 2008, Mrs Bandyopadhyay worked in hospitality for several years, but had always craved a more creative career path.
“I knew that I didn’t want to work in hospitality for the rest of my life,” she said. In 2020 she decided to follow her heart and applied to study at Nescol.
Family inspiration helps studies
Calling it a “new adventure”, she says she enjoyed everything about the course and even drew inspiration from her family to help one of the projects she undertook whilst studying.
Explaining, she said: “I was away from my family during the pandemic and I missed them a lot.
“I decided to express myself by remembering each of my family members through design – I took inspiration from their favourite items and things I remembered about them and designed a print for each member of my family.
“This was a very personal project as it allowed me to feel close to my family when they were so far away.”
Despite being 34 when she started her course, her message is simple: “It doesn’t matter how old you are – there’s always time to gain new knowledge and make new friends.
“Never stop learning. Life is what you make of it. When you grow older, your priorities change. I decided to follow my heart and I am so much happier learning and being creative.”
Mrs Bandyopadhyay’s creative journey is continuing, with her going straight into second year of a degree in 3D design at Robert Gordon University’s (RGU) Gray’s School of Art.
Conversation