My sis is student of the year

Nov 9 2012 by lorraine howard, Irvine Herald

Regular readers of this column will know I have a sister, Linda.

For a long time she worked in supermarkets as a manager then moved on to call centres but decided three years ago to follow her heart and despite being partially sighted, go back to full time education.

A big step but one that paid off.

On Friday she graduated from Cardonald College with an HND in Media Studies and was named Student of the Year.

I couldn’t have been prouder. She was awarded the prize for her commitment to her studies and her success of landing a job with the BBC as a researcher.

And while there were cheers for her at Glasgow University’s Bute Hall, I felt a little sad that she just had me sitting there.

Other graduates were surrounded by families but then there was just me. I felt a great sense of sadness that our late mum wasn’t there but Linda reminded me that it was a day where mum would have been extremely proud that not only were her girls best friends but her daughter was the cream of the college class.

My life is different now that she is not here as much but I am bursting with pride that this woman who took a chance to change her life and follow her dream is now living it.

In saying that, she will always be my big sister and I still see her running around the wee park in Kilbirnie beating the boys at football. I should have known then there was no stopping this girl.

The sky’s the limit and I just can’t wait to see what she does next.