Hundreds of students donned their mortar boards and robes as they graduated in Aberdeen yesterday.
Students from all over the world were at graduation ceremonies at the city’s Marischal College.
Proud relatives and friends looked on as they saw their loved ones receive their degrees.
One by one they took to the stage and were cheered on by their fellow students and families as they realised the fruits of their labours.
The graduates were told that they had made a sound investment in their future and advised to go out there and change the world.
Professor John Swinton, who leads divinity and religious studies at the university, said: “Education is about building character and helping students to become the types of people who will leave this institution and go out and change the world.
“And Lord knows, the world needs changing. When you leave here, go out and change the world.
“We have done what we can to help you to see the world differently and to understand your place and importance in the world.”
A number of high achievers were also honoured at the events, including Allan Campbell, who was the chief executive of Bord na Gaidhlig until 2007.
Mr Campbell, who is originally from Skye and a former graduate of the university, has been involved in a wide range of community and Gaelic development initiatives over the past 25 years, and was presented with an honorary doctorate.
He said: “I feel like a dog with two tails. A dog with two tails wags both of them. That’s how happy I feel. It’s a wonderful honour. I think it’s always nice for your efforts to be recognised in this way and I think it shows the university’s longstanding commitment to Gaelic.”
Also receiving the degree of doctor of letters was William Dalrymple who wrote and presented the television series, Stones of the Raj, and Indian Journeys, which won a Bafta for best documentary series.
Dr Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, who is immediate past president of the University of Aberdeen Development Trust USA, was also honoured.
Margaret Hodder, from Cults, has more reason than most to feel proud on her graduation day.
She was originally due to finish her Masters in Theology in 2006 but a leg and ankle break put the brakes on her studies. She then found herself in hospital with a suspected heart problem and in 2007 her daughter suffered a period of ill-health.
As well as her academic success, her son, Christopher, recently secured a highly prized internship with Sun Microsystems – one of only five given out by the firm every year – as part of his computing studies degree at Aberdeen University.