Hundreds of students and their families filled Elgin Town Hall this week to celebrate UHI Moray’s graduating class of 2022.
On Thursday, UHI Moray hosted a ceremony for the classes of 2020 and 2021, who didn’t have the chance to walk across the stage and collect their awards due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The cohort in Friday’s ceremonies was the first in over three years to be able to graduate in person.
And the graduates and lecturers took full advantage of the occasion.
Each of the students had started their degrees when the university was still known as Moray College UHI, and they endured years of difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
But this week, they crossed the stage proudly and to thunderous applause. The ceremony was a celebration of what the students had achieved to this point, and an invitation to them to move on to new challenges.
No barriers to learning
Of all of this year’s graduates, Rita Graham might have taken the least conventional path to her bachelor’s degree.
After leaving school when she was 15, she found herself unemployed and looking for work later in life. But, she said, she had some work to do first.
“My CV was sketchy at best,” she told the audience on Friday.
Miss Graham delivered the vote of thanks at all of this week’s ceremonies, and she had a message of appreciation for her lecturers and encouragement for classmates.
She said that she was often the oldest student in her class – sometimes to the great relief of a few 40- and 50-year-old classmates.
But she said this added an extra dimension to her education, which she wouldn’t have traded for anything.
“I had a brilliant experience, and I’ve still got so many friends I keep in touch with. Because I was a little older, I was able to have a different kind of banter with my lecturers.
“And it was really helpful because a lot of the subjects we covered I had some real experience in.”
She isn’t sure yet what’s next for her, but she knows she’ll have family backing her all the way.
“When I first started college, a degree was the furthest thing from my mind.
“I think my family was quite amazed.”
How great is this?
And Miss Graham’s family weren’t the only ones amazed by the UHI Moray class of 2022’s accomplishments.
UHI Moray principal and CEO David Patterson welcomed Friday’s guests and he was clearly bubbling over with excitement about the idea of a first in-person ceremony in three years.
“How great is this?” he asked the crowd, after inviting them to give the graduates a round of applause.
He went on to list some of UHI Moray’s accomplishments with help from the class of 2o22. UHI Moray was the best-performing college in mainland Scotland in the first year of the pandemic, and multiple degree programmes more than doubled in size during that time.
But, he said, this week’s celebrations weren’t about the numbers.
“What we’re here for, and the point of Moray College, is to help change lives. To help get people from where they are now to where they need to be.
“So congratulations, be proud of what you’ve achieved and, above all else, be confident about what you can do in the future.”
The crowd cheered as each student collected their award, rattling the rafters in a manner fit for the happy occasion. An extra roar went up for Linzi Clark, who not only received her SCQF Level 6 Certificate in Beauty and Aesthetic Therapies but also took home the prestigious Student of the Year award.
Armed for new challenges
Following the award ceremony, special guest speaker Marius Puscas, owner of Elgin’s Planta Cafe paid a final tribute to the class of 2022. He told the audience about the challenges he faced when opening a new business in January 2020, only to be forced to shut his doors three months later.
“It was a time of uncertainty, we had no idea how long it would last,” he said. And he told the graduates that difficult times lay ahead of them as well.
“Life will be hard, for every single one of you. You will go through ups and down like the seasons. You’ll have a really nice summer, but then autumn comes and winter and these times will be hard.”
But there’s always going to be a way through, he said, and the graduates have what they need to persevere.
“Every single one of you has your own dreams and wants to pursue your careers, and I just want to say it’s possible. But don’t be afraid.
“If you have the passion and belief in yourselves, it will get you through anything. You have the talent and training to succeed.
“Now, people in the community and in the country need your talent and hard work.”
UHI Moray Class of 2022 Gallery
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