Aria

Aria is in her fourth year studying International Marketing at Glasgow Caledonian University – 200 miles from the rural hometown where she grew up, and far from the life she once lived.

She grew up in a kinship care arrangement with her grandparents and took on caring responsibilities at a young age:

“I’d always wanted to go to university, but I had various challenges growing up even though I had a really supportive family.

“I was a young carer – not only for my granddad when he was really ill, but also for my mum, who has mental health problems. So my childhood was a little bit different.”

When it came time to move to Glasgow for university, the distance magnified everything:

“Glasgow is 200 miles away from where I’m from. I’d spent my whole life in a small, rural town; I knew everyone there. Coming to a big city, adjusting to independence, being on my own for the first time… it was a huge step.

“In my first year, my grandfather, who was one of my kinship parents, was dying right around the time of my final exams. That was really hard.

“But the support from GCU has been amazing. I have a student care plan in place, and the university has helped me find a balance between my home life and my studies. I don’t know how I would have gone through uni without all of that.”

One way in which she was supported was through receiving the Sir Alex Ferguson Common Good Scholarship:

“It was a sense of relief. I couldn’t have even thought about all of this support coming my way. It was such a blessing.

“There’s definitely been times I’ve thought that if I didn’t have this kind of support, I don’t know how I would have found that balance. I don’t know how I would have been able to have a steady life here in Glasgow, especially while still providing support at home.

“It’s so great that GCU provides this support. From my personal experience, having that sense of freedom when you’ve had concerns about restrictions on your life during your studies has been a life-changer.

“Moving away was scary, but it was also great to take that step. GCU has supported me through everything, from first year to now, and I can see it will support me through graduation too, which is amazing.”