The thrill of watching her younger sister graduate was all the inspiration an Aberdeenshire student needed to encourage her to go back to university.
Lisa Michie, 31, from Banchory, originally went to university straight from school to study law, but didn’t enjoy the course, so she left and started working.
However, after her younger sister, Nicola, graduated in 2012, she sat herself down and created a five-year plan of action.
Yesterday, she realised one of those goals and graduated from Robert Gordon University with a BA (Hons) Business Management.
Miss Michie said she had completed her part-time course in just four years, adding: “I’m delighted to be able to check this off my list before the end of 2017.
“I was working in a customer service role at Weatherford when I decided to start studying. I didn’t think I could progress through the company without formal qualifications, so business management seemed the right choice.
“I had intended to leave work while I studied for my degree, but through RGU I could study part-time while I worked and continued progressing my career. Weatherford agreed to sponsor me through the course.”
Talking about her drive to succeed, Miss Michie said: “I was assured on a night out in my first year that it would be impossible to get a degree whilst working full time.
“I’m glad to be able to prove them wrong. It is possible, it just takes a lot of hard work, time and commitment.”
Adding that she feels all the hard work has paid off, Miss Michie said: “I’m incredibly proud of having completed my degree, particularly while working full time.”
However Miss Michie paid tribute to her fellow students and said: “One of the highlights has been meeting and working with my study group.
“The group was put together on the first day of the course and we graduated together. I would never have got to the end without their unwavering support and advice – academically, personally and professionally – over the past four years.”
Miss Michie’s project focused on an organisation having to “downsize due to the changes in the market and its impact on employee wellbeing.
She added: “I had a phenomenal amount of interest from Weatherford management and HR and from my colleagues who were all really engaged with the topic and willing to participate in the research and share their personal experiences.
“During all this, my study group was always on standby to help me out, give me suggestions and generally keep me sane.”
It hasn’t been an easy road. But she is now looking forward to using what she has learned to support her career development.
