Hundreds of graduates donned their gowns and baked in the sunshine yesterday as they bade a triumphant farewell to Aberdeen University.
After years of hard work, there was a tangible sense of achievement among the myriad recipients when they filed into the resplendent Elphinstone Hall to collect their degrees.
This, for many at the ceremony, represented the final stop before they embarked on the next chapter of their lives.
A heady throng of graduates gathered in front of their families and loved ones to collect their awards during three ceremonies, in the morning, afternoon and evening.
Among the honorary graduates accepting doctorates were Olympic rower, Dame Katherine Grainger, Scottish international footballer, Kim Little and Margaret Carlaw, a retired teacher, retired primary education adviser, farmer, writer and philanthropist.
Glasgow-born, yet fully adopted by Aberdeen when her family moved to Netherley, Dame Katherine is Great Britain’s most successful female Olympian.
She is the only woman to have won medals at five consecutive Olympic Games, rounding off her career with a silver medal in Rio in the double sculls.
Proudly accepting her doctorate, she said: “I’m so honoured to be receiving a degree from Aberdeen University.
“My mum graduated from here 50 years ago this week and so did my big sister, so I am getting to add to the family graduation, which is something I never thought I would get to do.
“I love coming back to Aberdeen and always make a point of going to visit my golden post-box – usually I have something to post in it – so it doesn’t look too odd that I’m hanging around.
Adding that many of the graduates will not yet know what the future holds, she said: “I’m starting my very first ‘proper’ job soon; I suppose you could say I have had a very long gap year.
“I had no idea, when I left university, I would end up with a career in rowing.”
On offering advice to the new graduates, she said that opportunities may come along and “you should be open to anything”.
She added: “You never necessarily know what is going to come long next – I am quite open minded to opportunities – and I think today’s graduates will be going through an amazing mix of relief and excitement about what their futures may hold.”
The graduates were also addressed by the university’s Alice McClellan, who praised Dame Katherine’s perseverance, endurance, focus, and determination.
She said: “To everyone graduating today, I hope you will take inspiration from Katherine. Never give up on your goals and once you have achieved them, make new and bigger ones.
“Inspire those around you and always work hard. Be dedicated and resilient, but always remember to smile and find joy and pride in what you do.
“I would like to finish on a quote from Katherine. It has been uttered many times by a great many people, but it is still an incredibly important part of life: ‘Anything is possible’.”
