Graduation 30 years ago today!

[vivdunstan]

Just realised Martin and I - plus pal Andrew - graduated 30 years ago today at St Andrews University! We hope to get video clips soon, but the uni haven't got them to us yet. Meanwhile here's the Dundee Courier page from that day, 6 July 1994. Listing the 3 of us - me and Andrew Computer Science, Martin Astronomy + Physics.

Comments

[a_cubed]

I always forget you guys are a little younger than me. I spent a year out and then two years doing a masters by research (part-time) before starting my PhD at St Andrews. I graduated with my BSc from Leeds in 91.

[vivdunstan]

I'm a year younger than Martin as well. I've never quite figured out our schooling timetables. Eg if he had more years with Lower and Upper Sixth than me in Scotland. But yup, I was 17 I think when I started at St Andrews, that or only just turned 18. Martin was 18 going on imminently 19. Which meant that I was just 22 when I started the PhD, whereas Martin started his a year later aged 24.

[a_cubed]

So, actually, Martin is pretty much the same age as me. I turned 25 fairly soon after starting my PhD.

[vivdunstan]

He’s born in 1971 if that helps the calculation :) September, which makes remembering what our ages were (I’m September too) on starting as undergrads a little tricky! But our PhDs started a little bit later in the year and so are easier to remember :)

[a_cubed]

Ah, no, I am a little older (Nov 69). I started my PhD in September 94 so I was 24, going on 25. It7s easy for me to remember my age since for most of the year it ends in the same digit as the year (94=24).

[vivdunstan]

Ok. We graduated in 1994 and I started my CS PhD that autumn aged 22. But Martin did a 1-year conversion degree at Edinburgh first before starting his PhD in autumn 1995 aged 24.

[a_cubed]

Ah, I hadn't recalled that Martin started a year after you and I did. He and I overlapped at St Andrews from 95-2000 so the early details are a bit fuzzy.

[vivdunstan]

Yup - Ursula popped into my office to see me part way through my first year, and ask if Martin might be interested in a PhD opportunity! He was still in the middle of his 1-year conversion degree then.