After years of working offshore, Warren Spalding was craving a career change when he decided to apply to the University of Aberdeen.
The 36-year-old, who had been working in oil and gas, was inspired by the Covid pandemic to pursue his passions at university.
Warren, from Aberdeen, explains: “I chose the University of Aberdeen because it is a respected institution close to home. I wanted to move into a new career and Computing Science felt like the right fit. The impact of Covid pushed me to reflect on what I wanted long-term and gave me the final push to start this journey. Aberdeen was the ideal place to make that change.”
Navigating life as a mature student wasn’t easy for Warren, but despite the challenges, he gave it his all.
He continues: “My journey was far from typical. I returned to study in my thirties after more than a decade working in oil and gas. Covid played a role in shifting my priorities and gave me the opportunity to reset. Balancing full time work and academic life was demanding, but it taught me discipline, focus and resilience.
“There were tough days, but I stayed the course. The teaching was strong and the course content gave me a solid foundation for the future. My proudest achievement is earning a degree while working full time and managing life as a mature student.
“It feels brilliant to be graduating now. There were definitely moments I wondered if I had taken on too much, but standing at the finish line now, I am genuinely proud. It has been a long road with plenty of graft and it was never easy, but every bit of it was worth it.”
As if returning to his studies wasn’t upheaval enough, it coincided with Warren’s decision to go after his personal dream: learning to fly.
“My real passion is flying, so most of my spare time has gone into getting my Private Pilot’s Licence while juggling coursework. Turns out balancing a degree and flight training keeps you pretty busy!
“Flying over the coastline during training and seeing the city from the air is absolutely incredible. Aberdeen looks completely different from above and it really reminded me why I chose to study and live here. I plan to continue progressing through pilot training and working towards additional ratings so I can fly more advanced aircraft.”
Now he has completed his studies, Warren is looking to the future and is excited to take the next steps in his career.
“Now that graduation is over, I will finally be heading to Japan with my wife for a well-deserved honeymoon that we postponed while I completed my studies.
“I’m currently employed as an Automation Engineer which I have combined my BSc and my Engineering background with Wood Plc. I’ll be using career to progress my ambitions to work in consultancy in the US, Middle East and Australia.”