Each year we are delighted to welcome our online students to our historic Old Aberdeen campus to celebrate their graduation alongside classmates, family and friends - many of whom are visiting Aberdeen for the first time.
It’s always a pleasure to hear about their unique online learning journeys as well as their physical travels to reach us. We love meeting our graduates and hearing them acknowledge those who have supported them along the way. It’s also inspiring to learn about their future aspirations and encourage them to keep on striving towards their goals.
Class of 2025
In Summer 2025, we met graduates who had travelled from Indonesia, Chile, and Switzerland and they kindly agreed to share their journeys with us. Find out more about their stories:
Nawaf, Online MBA Graduate
Nawaf traveled all the way from Jakarta, Indonesia, to celebrate his MBA graduation. He and his friends planned to visit several landmarks across Scotland and the rest of the UK whilst they were here. This included being in the right place, at the right time to see Oasis perform in Cardiff.
Find out more about the places Nawaf included on his trip
Lorena, MSc Clinical Nutrition
Lorena travelled from Chile with her family. We caught up with her whilst she was exhanging gifts with some of her tutors. She had a wonderful support team with her including her husband and kids. We were excited to hear she is going back to Clinical Practice in Chile.
I decided to travel to Aberdeen for graduation to celebrate my achievement along with my family (husband, parents and my two children). It was a 14-hour flight from Santiago to London. We spent 3 days in London and then flew to Aberdeen where we spent another 3 days. We then departed by train to Edinburgh, York and London again for a few days before travelling back to Chile. I would absolutely come back to Aberdeen.
Lorena
Jonathan, MTh Theology and Disability
Jonathan and his family travelled from Switzerland in a VW Multivan to attend his graduation in Aberdeen, thanks to support from the Make-A-Wish Switzerland. They caught up with us about the roadtrip and shared stories of the two weeks they spent here together.
Jonathan had this to say about his trip:
“Why don’t we drive to Scotland for your ceremony?” was my mother-in-law’s suggestion back in February. I had already missed my bachelor’s graduation ceremony and was reluctant to miss my master’s ceremony as well. But the idea of driving from Switzerland to Scotland with three kids—one with severe health challenges—seemed out of the question.
My mother-in-law, however, offered to come along and help out, which was enough for me to reconsider. We did, however, need a bigger car. Through Make-A-Wish, my son Keoni managed to secure a VW T7 Multivan for the journey. Once we agreed and we had confirmation for the car, we began planning our 30-hour trip from Switzerland to Scotland.
On the 25th of June, the six of us set off on the first leg of a four-day journey. First, we drove to Altenkirchen, Germany. The next day, we boarded the 11-hour overnight ferry from Rotterdam to Hull. Then we cruised up the east coast of England, spending a night in Alnwick before finally arriving in Aberdeen on the 30th of June.
One major highlight for me was visiting the University of Aberdeen campus. I even got a brief insider tour from a classmate and was able to visit the Sir Duncan Rice Library to personally thank the team for scanning so many chapters and pages for me during my MTh research.
We stayed in Aberdeen for two weeks, fully immersing ourselves in the local sights and experiences.
We were pleasantly surprised by how accessible the beaches, castles, and gardens were with a wheelchair, and grateful for the abundance of blue zone parking. We especially loved Balmedie Beach, which even provided free beach-accessible wheelchairs!
One major highlight for me was visiting the University of Aberdeen campus. I even got a brief insider tour from a classmate and was able to visit the Sir Duncan Rice Library to personally thank the team for scanning so many chapters and pages for me during my MTh research.
After two weeks of exploring castles, gardens, cliffs, seeing puffins, visiting the Glen Garioch distillery, and eating plenty of fish ’n’ chips and 99s, it was time to head home. The trip left a lasting impression on all of us, and my daughter is already planning to study in Aberdeen—so it looks like we’ll be back. I truly loved our time there and wouldn’t hesitate to choose Aberdeen again for study. Eventually, I plan to pursue a PhD, but for now, I’ll be taking a bit of a study break.
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