Janet’s Prize surprise

When Janet Graham dropped out of a University course in Newcastle, she did not envisage a return to study. Now, over two years later, she has graduated from the University of Teesside with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Business and Hospitality and achieved the Ede and Ravenscroft Prize of £250.

Janet, 21, of the Gables, Sedgefield, said: “The money is really useful as I’ve just got engaged to my boyfriend Mark Garbutt.”

She completed the HND at one the University’s partnership colleges, Middlesbrough College. Janet added: “When I left my previous course I never thought I’d go back, but my parents helped to persuade me. In fact my mum made my appointment with the University. The management accounting and financial modules have been really useful in my new job.”

Janet is now working as an Administration Assistant at the Thistle Hotel, Middlesbrough. She added: “I love the variety of the job and meeting so many different people. No two days are ever the same.”

Janet is the daughter of Barbara and Terry Graham and a former pupil of Durham High School for Girls and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, Darlington.

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