A top London media firm has hired a De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) graduate after hearing of the opportunities she had taken while studying.
Courtney O’Hara said she had no doubt that her placement year taken through employability scheme #DMUworks, as well as trips overseas with international experience programme #DMUglobal, helped her secure the job she started two months ago.
Speaking after collecting her certificate during the first of DMU’s winter graduation ceremonies, Courtney said: “I work in a media agency in London called Initiative and they were really impressed with the opportunities that DMU had given me.
“They said I was so well-rounded because of what I had done at university and that most people come out of uni with their degree but that is it.
“I feel amazing having graduated. I deferred in July because I was travelling in the US. But I really wanted to graduate because it is such a special thing to do – getting to wear a hat and gown and go through the motions. I am so happy I did it.
“It has been amazing at DMU. The tutors really supported me and when I came back from my placement in my fourth year I was made so welcomed. You are made to feel a part of the DMU family.”
Courtney was one of hundreds of Business and Law students celebrating the culmination of years of hard work at the first of a series of ceremonies this week.
Bradley Atherton St.Clair Marshall-Cumberbatch, from Barbados said: “The ceremony was so good. I found it quite emotional but then I am a very emotional person.”
The Digital Marketing graduate said he chose DMU because the course matched his ambitions.
“I didn’t want to do traditional marketing. So I searched high and low and found this course. It was excellent and a great experience. I will really miss Leicester.”
Sureena Kaur graduated in the afternoon with an MBA Master of Business Administration. She is now working in London and misses life in Leicester.
Sureena said: “It is very exciting to get my degree but I can’t believe uni life is over.
“DMU is a great uni. I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want it to end. It is lovely to come back. You feel the positive vibe as soon as you arrive and really feel like you’re at home. There’s nowhere else like it.”
Ashmi Nakrani, from London, received her Economics and Business Management degree.
She said: “I feel awesome. I’ve had a really great day. Everything has been so well organised and the atmosphere inside was brilliant.
“I started work in July last year working in logistics for Paperchase and I am really enjoying it.
“I loved being in Leicester, especially the football. I was in my first year when they won the league. I am a Leicester City fan now.”
Matthew Quenby received a BA Hons in Management after completing a distance-learning course, juggling his studies with his full time job in Leigh, Greater Manchester. His wife Jayne accompanied him to the ceremony.
Matthew said: “It has been hard work completing a degree, holding down a full time job and looking after three kids. It has been a bit of a challenge, yes, but the work and the degree complemented each other. I’m really pleased I saw it through.
“The ceremony was great. We do pomp and ceremony really well. It does make you feel that at DMU it is more than just receiving your degree.”
Posted on Tuesday 22 January 2019