Avenue

As a mature student with three children, university felt completely out of reach for me. I worried I wasn’t capable, and I had missed my chance. But something in me still wanted more. 
 
Coming to UofG has changed me in ways I can’t fully put into words. It hasn’t just been about lectures or assignments – it’s been about rebuilding my confidence and realising that I am capable after all. 
 
There have been moments of stress and doubt, but also moments of pride where I’ve thought, “I’m actually doing this.” The most meaningful part of this journey is showing my children that it’s never too late to take that step and change your life.

Saima Zaid (2nd year, Social & Public Policy)

(Image: courtesy Saima Zaid)

I remember the dark nights of winter. The blue trains. The dark spires of the University. The Aragon and Rubaiyat pubs. Byres Road and Kelvingrove Art Gallery.  

I got involved with the University paper, the 'Glasgow University Guardian'. I took some photos and drew a cartoon panel ('Spannerman' – a timid GU engineer with superpowers). I once took my camera to the car show at the Kelvin Hall and said I was with 'THE Guardian'. I got all sorts of favours!  

What did the University give me? Solid values. Solid training. The confidence to go out to distant lands and help others. With best wishes for the next 575. 

Hector M Baillie (BSc 1975, MBChB 1981)

(Image: courtesy Hector M Baillie)

The University is the home of some of my best memories. I first went to study there in 1979 for an MA (moving into a flat from my mining village in Lanarkshire), and never looked back. I met my husband there when he was studying Civil Engineering and we married in the University Chapel in 1985. I then completed my Masters in Public Health and we both stayed in the West End for many years after graduation. My youngest son has just graduated with a Masters in Civil Engineering with Architecture, following in his father’s footsteps. So as a family we’ve had a long connection and fondness for the University. We celebrated my son’s graduation in The Ubiquitous Chip, where we would go in our youth – when we could afford it! My husband is a keen photographer and he now enjoys going to the University to catch sight of the peregrine falcons nesting there. So happy 575th anniversary and lang may yer lum reek!

Brenda Frew, née Cassidy (MA 1985, MPH 1999)

(Image: courtesy Brenda Frew)

I arrived in Glasgow in January 2022 as an international student, not really knowing how much this city and the University would come to mean to me. The weather is often grey, but the warmth of the people here makes up for it completely. Very quickly, Glasgow started to feel like home, and the University became so much more than just a place to study.

One of the most special parts of my time here has been everything I experienced outside the classroom. I got involved in volunteering quite early on, spending time with Glasgow’s 'golden generation' – some wonderful older members of the community. We played games, shared stories and simply enjoyed each other’s company in small community spaces that always felt so warm and welcoming. Those moments were simple, but they stayed with me. 

After graduating, I was lucky enough to remain at the University as a member of staff, which felt like a special full-circle moment. Since then, I have built my career here, spending three years as a Project Management Officer supporting the Living Laboratory programme before moving into my current role as a Project Coordinator within MVLS, where I support the delivery of strategic projects and initiatives.

Hemshree Desai (MPH 2022)

(Image: courtesy Hemshree Desai)

From the first day I met Monica, I wanted to share all my life stories with her and create more beautiful memories together. I knew she had long dreamed of a church wedding, so we agreed right away to hold ours at the University of Glasgow Chapel. This feels like a continuation of my time studying here, as well as a way to express my gratitude and fondness for my alma mater.

In 2017, we arrived in Glasgow from opposite sides of the world – India and Mexico – each chasing a master’s degree and, unknowingly, the same story. 
 
We met in those first few days, but it was a first-term group project that really brought us together. What followed was a friendship built in lecture halls and the small rituals of student life, occasionally ‘extended’ at Tennents Bar and the Park Bar. 

Somewhere along the way, without either of us quite noticing when, friendship became something more. 
 
Since then, our story has stretched far beyond Glasgow: building a life together in London and celebrating our wedding in Mexico in 2022. Every part of it traces back to those early days at UofG.

Lorraine D Almeida (MSc 2018) and Antonio Feregrino Bolanos (MSc 2018)

(Image: courtesy Lorraine D Almeida)

1 January 1980, about 12:30 am… 

I was a PhD student in the Computing Science Department, in Lilybank Gardens, living in Great Western Road. I’d landed a lectureship (even though I didn’t yet have my PhD) starting officially on 1 January 1980. So as part of my New Year celebrations, I first-footed the building, wished it a Happy New Year (happy new decade!) and went on my merry (if a little drunken) way! 

Professor Leslie Smith (BSc 1973, PhD 1981)

(Image: courtesy Leslie Smith)

Haojie: I first noticed her in a large language class – I don’t know what made her so happy, but she was laughing out loud.
Yuijiao: For both of us, the year we spent at the University of Glasgow was an unforgettable and precious experience. Our relationship was nurtured little by little by our daily life on campus.
Haojie: Winter comes exceptionally early in Glasgow and it gets dark very early, but our relationship blossomed at that time. I proposed at the end of October, got married in the spring in the University Chapel, then found out we were going to be parents.
Yuijiao: It had been raining for days before the wedding, but the weather was perfect on the day itself. It was a romantic collaboration between us and the University – a place of destiny, where we met.

Yujiao Zhang (MSc 2025) and Haojie Zhang (MPH 2025)

(Image: courtesy Yujiao and Haojie Zhang)

In October 1962 I was part of the campaign to elect the great South African freedom fighter, Chief Albert John Luthuli, as Rector of the University. It was a wild ride, with some incidents best forgotten, but recorded for posterity in the 'Glasgow University Guardian'.

We were sworn to secrecy as to how our candidate’s signature, consenting to his nomination, had been smuggled out of Robben Island prison where Luthuli was held. Victory was sweet, and just after the result was announced I was in the GUU, possibly not entirely sober, when one of the porters called me to his ‘box’ and handed me a telegram addressed to ’Chief Luthuli, Rector, University of Glasgow’. I opened the envelope and read the message: ‘Congratulations from an Irish Rebel. Brendan Behan’. It was a never-to-be-forgotten moment. I may even have shed a tear. I hope that telegram from the great playwright is preserved in an archive somewhere.

Professor Alan Alexander (MA 1965)

(Image: Chris Watt Photography)

Four UK universities had already said no. My first degree was in pharmacy, and in their eyes, that wasn’t enough to study Biotechnology at postgraduate level. Glasgow saw something they didn’t, and gave me a chance.

With the guidance of exceptional lecturers, I didn’t just study; I fell in love with research. I graduated with a Distinction – but a degree wasn’t all Glasgow gave me. Within those lecture halls and late-night study sessions, I found my people. Friends who became family. One of them became the godmother of my first son in 2024.

The University of Glasgow didn’t just believe in me when others wouldn’t – it changed the entire trajectory of my life.

Stephanie Ariemu (MSc 2021)

(Image: fmphotosx)

When I was at school, I had the unforgettable experience of singing in the University chapel at my music teacher’s wedding. I remember being completely in awe of the beauty of the surroundings, quietly imagining what it might be like to get married there myself one day.

On 2 April 2016, that dream became a reality. After graduating in Primary Education, I returned to the very same chapel to celebrate my own wedding. It felt incredibly special to come full circle in such a meaningful place.

To make the day even more memorable, children from my school choir sang at our ceremony. I like to think that they too might have left that chapel dreaming of one day studying at the University themselves.

Ashleigh Kennedy (BEd 2008)

(Image: View Photography)