The first wedding anniversary is traditionally represented by paper – and it’s one that was particularly apt for newlyweds Mais and Becca Wilsher.
For the couple had gone back to university to study for undergraduate degrees and celebrated it as students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), surrounded by notebooks, textbooks and post-it notes.
But their three years of hard work paid off when both of them were awarded a prize for achieving the best results in their year on their courses – Mais for International Relations and Rebecca collecting two, for top Advertising and Marketing student and best brand portfolio.
They both graduated this summer and were there to see each other receive prizes as the Faculty of Business and Law held a series of prize-giving ceremonies to say thank you to its highest-achieving students.
Rebecca said: “We’re very different – he’s cool, calm and collected and I got very panicked and worried about deadlines! He likes to work from home whereas I couldn’t, I spent most hours in the library. Although there were lots of post-it notes at home.
“We’d both decided to take the plunge and go to university, because we’d worked before hand after leaving school and I think we both thought we were ready for the level of study needed after a few years working.”
The couple are moving to York where Mais has landed a job as a client manager for a global software company. Becca plans to start looking for work there as well once the move is out of the way.
Mais said he always wanted to work within the civil service and studying for a degree in International Relations allowed him to deepen his knowledge of foreign affairs and its importance to business relationships. During his dissertation, he visited London embassies to interview senior diplomats about their roles.
Dr Ben Whitham, lecturer in International Politics, said of Mais: “Mais has been an exceptionally inquisitive and enthusiastic student and his dissertation reflected these attributes.
“He was unusually proactive and productive, submitting work well ahead of schedule.”
Nas Harrison, senior lecturer, was programme leader during Becca's studies. She said: “I am certain that Rebecca is going to continue to do great and creative things in the future. She is truly an amazing individual who will impress everyone she meets.”
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Maison said: “I’m excited to start the new job. I came into university a little bit older than most students, well we both did, so we were focused on what we wanted to do. For me at least I think I came into it wanting to learn more about how you can help set change in a business in the right direction.
“I wasn’t surprised for her when she said she had won a prize, because I know how hard working she is and how clever. I was here to see her win her prizes and she’s been here to support me. We have both supported each other through uni, even though I was always able to work at home and she had to work in the library.”
Posted on Thursday 1 August 2019