Double graduation celebration for Alison and Joe

Graduation will be extra special for mum and son Alison and Joe Clark, who both completed study at Teesside University in the same year.

Alison, who works as an advanced critical care practitioner at James Cook University Hospital’s intensive care unit, completed the MSc Advanced Critical Care, while Joe graduates from the BA (Hons) History.

'I wanted to return to education as when I first qualified there weren’t any related degree courses available at that time,' said Alison, 50, of Yarm.

'It was hard work balancing work with study and family life, but all of the hard work has been worthwhile.

'It has given me a real sense of satisfaction and it was good for my children to see me return to education, as it helped to show them the importance of gaining qualifications when you’re young, instead of having to return to education when you’re older in order to progress in your career.'

Alison, who studied part-time over three years, said: 'I’ve worked in the medical profession for around 26 years and back when I was first training there wasn’t the opportunity to do a degree. I’d initially started the nurse practitioner degree to broaden by clinical skills and when a new job came up at the hospital I was able to really go for it and progress to the master’s.

'I enjoyed the practical side of studying, as it was an opportunity put what was being learned straight into practice, which helped to make work even more interesting.'

Looking forward to graduation alongside his mum, Joe, 22, said: 'Although we were studying completely different subjects in separate parts of the University, so didn’t really see that much of each other on campus, it was good knowing someone else in the family was going through the same thing when it came to studying.

'We were able to offer each other some support and it’s great knowing we both graduate at the same time. I chose Teesside University as it was local to me the degree itself was really well regarded in student satisfaction surveys.'

Joe, who has secured an internship with Northumbrian Water, added: 'I've always been interested in history and the degree was really broad in what it covered, taking in everything from ancient Greece to the Second World War.

'I really enjoyed the sense of freedom with the degree, which involved lots of independent study and there was a wide range of people on the course, from younger students to mature students returning to education.'

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