A former helicopter pilot fulfilled her life long dream of getting a university degree yesterday.
Fiona Bakke was filled with emotions as she graduated with a first class degree in zoology from Aberdeen University.
The 52-year-old, from Newmachar, said: “I never thought I’d get to being here today and graduating after it being something that I had wanted to do for such a long time.
“When I decided to give up work and go to university it was obviously terrifying, but I would say that to anyone thinking of doing it and is scared, face the fear and do it anyway.
“But on a serious note you can speak to career services and find out what would work best for you.”
Mrs Bakke also thanked her husband yesterday, and said she would have been unable to complete the course without him.
She said: “I was very lucky in that my husband truly supported me in this decision.
“He has been the breadwinner whilst I have been at university but I now hope that over the next few years the roles will be reversed.
“Without him and his support there is no way that I could have been in this position today and it has been a very emotional morning for me and my family.”
Mrs Bakke is now looking forward to starting her PhD in Immunology at the university.
She said: “University was challenging in the way that we are taught to question what we are told, but through my previous career I was always learning so in that regard it wasn’t too bad.
“The whole experience has really been amazing and everything that I had hoped it to be, I am also the first person in my family to attend university; even though it is a little later in my life, but a degree is a degree none the less.”