Alumni Spotlight - Scott Allardice
In this week’s Alumni Spotlight, we meet a student who returned to education whilst in a transition period after relocating. After looking at his previous experience and qualifications, Scott decided to enrol on the MBA Business Administration (Executive) course. He tells us how he found the experience 👇
Can you introduce yourself?
Scott Allardice, from Elgin.
What course did you study at Perth College UHI?
I completed the MBA (Executive) course. Prior to starting a course with Perth College UHI, I relocated to Elgin after leaving my job as a project engineer to prioritise my wife’s career and care for our two young children during our transition. The employment market at the time did not appear buoyant and caring for two children also adds limitation on what employment could be feasible. Therefore, returning to education seemed like a logical and pro-active thing to do.
The full-time MBA (Executive) course was not what I originally had in mind, however, my previous qualifications and employment experience appeared to have relevance to the eligibility criteria. After further enquiries and understanding of what the course included, it felt as an opportunity to further develop and progress my education and employment experience in a sort of consolidating manner.
What was your favourite thing about the course?
The parts of the course that were my favourite, were the multitude of small topical pieces of knowledge across all the subjects taught, that I could relate to - and contribute a personal experience to - which also significantly broadened my perspectives. This was important, as I had been previously reluctant to return to education, with a mindset that I had been out of education for too long and the course was of a level too high for me to achieve. Thus, those important moments, meant I was taking an interest and enjoying much of the course.
This was all still possible with my childcare commitments owing to the flexible construct of the course. Nevertheless, the balance of course and covering childcare had its challenges, then coupled with the pandemic, turned it into a briefly bumpy experience! I say brief, because Perth College UHI are very familiar with remote teaching, and as teaching support, was very responsive via various means of communication that suits you.
Those bumps on the course stay brief, as I found the student and the university can adapt and accommodate bumpy situations together. If you want to complete what you started and achieve what you are aiming for, I found that Perth College UHI wanted to help me and make that happen.
Were there any standout/memorable moments from your course?
Throughout my journey, I had many memorable moments. A few were of the bumps and challenges of the course, coupled with childcare and pandemic effects that were unique to everyone. However, the overwhelming majority of my memorable moments, was participating in a course with a diverse range of people of various personalities, backgrounds, and nationalities. Everyone had value to add as part of my learning experience, and the humility of everyone’s challenges and successes on the course, made some memorable and mutually funny experiences. All of which contributed to my achievements on the course, unexpectedly and surprisingly passing with distinction, and self-reflecting to recognise how wrong I was on my pre-course mindset of self-doubt and reluctance to enrol on the course.
My experience on the course sometimes felt like a rollercoaster sort of journey, although on reflection and without any submission deadlines,
Did you enjoy studying at Perth College UHI?
I can confidently say I enjoyed the course. Now I have a little time after finishing the course to catch up with some mountaineering (if the kids let me), until my new qualification and new childcare arrangements, rejuvenates my prospects.
And finally, what advice would you give to someone thinking about studying at Perth College UHI?
If you are considering a course with Perth College UHI, my question would be ‘why not?’. If your answer is anything to do with self-doubt and reluctance, trust me, they are pretty much unfounded reasons (which I did realise afterwards).
If it’s the cost of the course that restricts, there are various methods of funding and finance available, where I realised many of my student colleagues found support from their employers.
Ultimately, if you are considering applying for a course, about to start, or midway through, I strongly suggest whatever you are pondering, you need only ask.
