Studying geology has been a life-long dream for Katrina Court.
Originally from New Zealand, she grew up being fascinated by the natural disasters caused by volcanoes
Her interest in the topic only grew when she spent two years working in the gold fields of Australia.
Four years ago, she decided to finally follow her dreams and enrolled to study at Aberdeen University – close to her current home in Laurencekirk, where she lives with her husband and two dogs.
She said: “I decided to finally pursue the degree because I was getting bored in my position offshore and felt like it was time for a new challenge.
“I’d always intended to move back to New Zealand and do my degree in geology but it never happened.
“But, I got here in the end.”
‘A lot of mixed feelings’
One of her biggest achievements from the past four years was receiving the CNR Scholarship.
But as a mature student, she said she felt like an “outsider” when she first started her studies.
She said: “Being a mature student starting higher education for the first time was a challenge on its own. Being the oldest immediately made me feel like an outsider.
“The young ones chatting about nights out and all the other things that I did when I was 20 years younger was a strange experience.
“As my fellow class mates began to get a bit older, and potentially a bit wiser, it became much easier to have conversations with them and by the end I most definitely didn’t feel like an outsider anymore.”
She said it was “amazing” to take to the stage today to receive her degree today.
“It’s a lot of mixed feelings seeing people for the last time, but it’s amazing to be able to celebrate the past four years.”
The recent graduate is not quite finished with studying yet though, and has plans to go on to complete a masters course in integrated petroleum geoscience before finding a job in the energy sector.
“The energy transition creates many exciting opportunities for geoscientists and I am very excited to see what my future will bring,” she said.
Conversation