MEET SOME UNI-LINKERS
Jacqueline Ewen
// HND Travel & Tourism // BA (Hons) International Tourism Management
Jacqueline is a single parent to Laura (20) and Chloe (17) and decided to return to full-time education after she divorced and decided to change her life completely. She joined ABERDEEN COLLEGE in 2004 and after successfully completing an HND, applied to RGU.
She said, 'When I found out I had my university place in 2006 it was a great achievement. Sadly my Mum and best friend died very suddenly the week after and it was a really difficult time. Mum was really proud of the fact that I had won a University place and this made me even more determined to do well.
'It has been a struggle bringing up my family on my own, especially financially. I lost my home after the divorce and had to move into much smaller accommodation with my girls, which was upsetting for us all.
'Honours year was tough! I was working a lot of hours over Christmas and New Year in Marks and Spencer, my employer for the last 13 years. I was really tired and felt like giving up but the strength, encouragement, support, and enthusiasm I received from my girls kept me going. They never doubted me and wouldn't dare let me quit; I'm so proud of them.
'Things calmed down again a bit after Christmas and I just got stuck in and remained as focused as I could. The support I received from lecturers Deirdre MacTaggart and Morag Hamilton in particular inspired me to do my very best. I was, and still am, on cloud nine to achieve a First Class Honours degree and, not only that, I have won a joint first prize for best Dissertation. The award was 'The Peter Ferguson Developments' award for best research project. Peter is an ex RGU student and now has his own events company. My dissertation title was 'Senior Tourism - A Global Phenomenon from a North East Scotland Perspective' which focused on senior tourism motivation theories and marketing strategies; this was built from previous research which has been done on an international level.
