51Âþ»­

You did it! An incredible week of celebrations drew to a close yesterday as 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­)’s newest graduates officially became alumni.

Over the course of six days and 19 ceremonies, more than 5,000 students have crossed the stage at Curve Leicester after completing their studies during some of the most challenging times we have ever experienced.  

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For some students, the Covid-19 pandemic meant their final year of studies had to be spent in lockdown and they had not seen each other in person since.

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For others, like Aftab Khan and Sherish Aftab (pictured), they’d been studying together every day – they are husband and wife, and graduated with a Postgraduate Diploma in Computing on Saturday.

They began doing an access course at Leicester College, then completing a degree and decided to study for a Master’s and their two proud children were there to watch.

“It’s a very special day for us,” said Aftab, who has just secured a graduate role with IBM here in Leicester. “It has been a lot of work to get here, but we enjoy the subject.” Sherish added: “Studying together and raising the children was sometimes difficult to manage, but 51Âþ»­ has been very supportive.”

Friends Gerda Vimba and Katrina Kocina came over from Latvia to study at 51Âþ»­ and both took Media and Communication. “51Âþ»­ has been a great experience for us,” said Gerda. “We were able to all come together as friends and we are excited to be graduating today.”

The final ceremonies on Saturday were for students in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media.

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Twins Tenzing and Toddlatta Oliver graduated in Film Studies and are going on to do Masters in International Film Production . Tenzing said: “It has been amazing, both the education and social aspect of it. Lecturers like Ellen Wright were fantastic, and so supportive.”

Davina Mander, Media Production, said 51Âþ»­’s free 51Âþ»­ Active sessions – free exercise classes online – had really helped her during the pandemic. She said: “Exercise gets rid of stress and I know those classes kept me going knowing I could do them. 51Âþ»­’s really good like that.”

Part-time lecturer Mike Mayes, who teaches on Media Production and Visual Effects, said: “This is the first cohort I have seen through from first to final year, so they started at 51Âþ»­ then six months later, we were all in lockdown so I am so, so proud to see them graduate today. They have done brilliantly.”