Pride and emotion for graduation day

It will be a final time for the class of 2017 to be back together, to celebrate the best four years we have had. We will be saying cheers to the degrees we have achieved, the jobs we have secured and the friendships we have made.

The past four years of my undergraduate degree have been full of opportunity and amazing experiences. The thought of graduating from Harper is emotional, however it’s exciting as I feel Harper has prepared me well for life as a graduate.

It shall be a proud moment sitting in the graduation marquee surrounded by my fellow students who have completed a variety of courses at Harper. All courses graduating are linked to the food supply chain or land based-sector, from agriculture to business management with marketing. On my graduation day, I shall be safe in the knowledge that as graduates we will be contributing towards providing solutions and making a difference in the land-based industry, and tackling food security issues.

Making it to graduation means that all of us have completed a lengthy research project, with many of the research projects carried out on innovative topics.

My own research project was based on rural businesses and how they market themselves. This research also highlighted the importance of rural businesses to the UK economy. Therefore, I feel that I have made a contribution to the rural sector with my research.

Four years earlier as I started as a nervous first year, I never imagined I would be graduating with a first class honours degree in business management with marketing. I owe this achievement to the fantastic academic staff at Harper who always had time for me and put lots of effort into their lectures, as well as the rest of the university staff, my placement employers and the students who contribute to making Harper the great place it is.

Harper is a very inspiring place to be a student, especially with all of the research that goes on there. I always felt very privileged to be at an institute that was doing so much for the food supply chain, such as the recent Hands Free Hectare research. I will feel proud to be a member of Harper alumni and wear my Harper badge with pride.

I hope the weather stays nice throughout graduation day, as I have plenty of photo opportunities planned to remember the special day by. It’s obligatory to have a photo outside the Harper main building and then to have a photo by the tractors. I will need to take most of the photos in the morning before I become too emotional towards the end of the day as we say goodbye.

Annabelle Gardner is a student graduating from Harper Adams University