Sarah Hall, Business Management

The 36-year-old from Inverurie took to the stage at His Majesty’s Theatre on Tuesday, July 9 at 2.30pm to collect her well-earned BA (Hons) Business Management degree.

Sarah said the opportunity to attend RGU arose through her employer, Aberdeenshire Council, where she was working as Support Services Officer, was too good to turn down.

“This was an amazing opportunity that I could not turn down and I was lucky to have been offered it.” Sarah said.

“The course provides a variety of modules that will be of great benefit to me to progress my career.

“I really like how the course was delivered as it allowed me to continue to work full-time in my current role and you can work at your own pace but still have the deadlines to meet. You are only required to attend university one Saturday a month and I knew the dates for the whole year so could plan ahead.

“You get great support from the lectures and your classmates too.”

Sarah is married with one daughter and two dogs and managed to master the balancing act of juggling family life with her studies but said she’s not sure this amazing achievement has sunk in yet.

She said: “Studying is hard at the best of times but to do it while working full time and dealing with everything else in my life is amazing, although I don’t really think it has fully sunk in what I have achieved.

“I know that many people might not think they are able to study while working full-time but it is absolutely possible if you put your mind to it.

“In my four years at university, I have trained for one ultramarathon and three marathons and in the last year, I have also faced some major challenges in my personal life and work.

“Only at the beginning of the year and in the midst of my dissertation, I faced huge uncertainties with my job which was a really difficult time for me but I had to put that aside to focus on getting my degree finished.

“In life you have to work hard to get what you want but if you put your mind to it, anything is possible.”