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The 23-year-old, from Aberdeen, is now celebrating as he graduated with a BA (Hons) in Public Relations from Robert Gordon University鈥檚 (亚博体育官网) School of Creative and Cultural Business. 

Speaking of his education journey from school to college and on to University, he said it hasn鈥檛 always been easy and he didn鈥檛 particularly enjoy school but following his dreams and finding his creative spark has now seen him gain a degree.

He said: 鈥淲hen I had left school, I left with National 4鈥檚 in every subject that I did. I didn鈥檛 really enjoy my time at school and tend to put that chapter behind me. What kept me going however through the storm of disliking my secondary school experience was the teachers that I had come across during my time there. The ones who had time for me, the ones who listened, the ones who helped me through my struggles always stick with me. I feel that school isn鈥檛 for everyone and sometimes you need that inspirational person, place or experience to give you that kick up the backside to tell you that 鈥榶ou CAN鈥� when you鈥檝e been so used to people telling you that 鈥榶ou can鈥檛鈥�. 

鈥淎t that point, my career prospects weren鈥檛 really bright, I was forever in a bit of rut of what I really wanted to do while everyone else was getting apprenticeships or going straight into University. My interests at that time were Music, Radio, TV and Club Culture. At the time I wanted to work for the BBC. Me quite naive at the time though I鈥檇 be able to leave school and just walk into a job. Having spoken to a number of teachers about it at school they all told me the same thing 鈥� that if you want to work for the BBC you鈥檒l need to get a degree. Of course, there鈥檚 that debate that comes up from time to time that not everyone who works in business or organisations like this have a degree, but personally felt that it would benefit me massively given where I was starting from.鈥�

Mark embarked on a media-based course with SHMU, a charitable organisation in Aberdeen, and said it was during that time that he was really able to focus, become more creative and gain some hands on experience creating short films, contributing to radio programmes and learning what it was like to broadcast live radio.

He said this experience led to him applying to NESCOL: 鈥淚 applied to do an NC in Creative Media and I was selected because of the experience I gained on the SHMU course. While the move from school to college was beneficial for me, it did come with a number of challenges. Being in a new environment, meeting new people and being quite a shy and introverted person made me feel incredibly anxious to start with, however through the four years that I would then spend there my attitude, my work ethic, my confidence, and quality of work only improved.

鈥淚 left college in 2019 with a HND in Media and Communications after my NC, I then embarked on my HNC in Media Analysis and Production then doing a 2+2 degree link for my HND in Media and Communications. In addition to the four years that I had spent there and having graduated with my HND in Media and Communications, not only being given 2 A grades for my creative projects, I was also awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) College Award 2019. 

"Studying at 亚博体育官网 for me, personally, has really made me realise that I can do anything that I want to achieve. While I have faced many challenges through school, college, and sitting my fourth year of University through the COVID-19 pandemic, being isolated from the usual class environment only made me work extremely harder. I feel that I owe 亚博体育官网 a lot given how they were able to accommodate for me to study on campus during the pandemic.

鈥淢oving on from my Honours degree and after graduating in July, I will then take up my place in my MSc in Digital Marketing in September 2021. While I know there will be challenges ahead, I know I鈥檒l be ok. That simply is part of the journey, it鈥檚 not designed to be easy, it鈥檚 designed to test you and your capabilities. I鈥檇 also like to take a moment to thank all of the lecturing staff who have helped me get through to this point, and I鈥檓 excited to meet and work with the next lot in September.鈥�

Mark said his dream job is to work within Public Relations in the music industry in London which is something he is hugely interested in and completed his dissertation on.

He concluded: 鈥淭he key advice that I would give anyone is choose something you will be interested in - if you don鈥檛 you are more likely to brush it to the side and panic last minute. While my time at 亚博体育官网 isn鈥檛 over just yet, my overall experience so far is that it鈥檚 been an incredible part of my life that I definitely don鈥檛 regret doing, I feel that the lecturers and the coursework relates to what I鈥檇 like to do within the industry and has especially increased my writing capabilities.

鈥淪chool sometimes isn鈥檛 for everyone. Your creative spark IS out there. You just need to find it. My MSc will mark my final year here at 亚博体育官网 but it鈥檚 far as I want to go in academia and I am excited to see how my career will unfold once I have finished it.

If I had any final advice to give anyone I鈥檇 say this: Don鈥檛 be afraid to take risks, ask questions even if they are stupid, and work hard but also make sure you enjoy your time at University as it really is the most rewarding thing that you鈥檒l ever do!鈥�