In an exciting move, Melissa M, Class of 2024, has started a student placement work experience before pursuing her love of languages at university.

After receiving five unconditional offers from various universities, she is set to attend Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh in 2025 to study Mandarin and Spanish (Interpreting and Translating). 

Melissa has enthusiastically joined the Admissions Team here at the College as a student placement, where she is gaining valuable experience working with prospective families. During her time as a pupil at Robert Gordon’s, Melissa embraced a variety of co-curricular activities, serving as the Charities Committee Co-Leader, first violinist in the Senior Strings Orchestra, and volunteering with Girlguiding.

Speaking about her time at the College, Melissa shared: “Without a doubt the best part of RGC is the community. The teachers at school were there to help me and believe in me, when I didn’t believe in myself. The connections I built with teachers were so rewarding. Especially with Mrs Adam and Mr Duncan, who inspired me to continue my study of Mandarin and Spanish together. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds, with so many possible pathways stemming from languages.

“I am loving working with the Admissions team. During S6, I regularly toured prospective families and volunteered my time as a prefect which has been invaluable in preparing me for the new role. Seeing families take their first day photos in front of the school sign brought me back to my early memories of RGC. It is lovely to be a part of their journey and share my experience of being a pupil at Robert Gordon’s College.”

Mrs Adam, Teacher of Mandarin, commented: “It has been such a pleasure to teach Melissa in the past 5 years. I am not only impressed by her talent of learning languages, but also the huge amount of time and effort she put in while being involved in many other leadership roles in school. She always seizes every opportunity to practise and learn Mandarin. There were a lot of precious moments when she asked me inspiring questions that really made me to think and look at learning and teaching from a different angle. I have no doubt that her passion for languages will lead her way to another wonderful adventure. I think she will continue to be inspired and to inspire more learners in the future.”

Mr Duncan, Teacher of Spanish, added: “I am delighted for Melissa in securing a place at Heriot-Watt to pursue her dream of becoming a teacher of languages. Having taught her over the course of the last two years, it has been an absolute privilege to watch her languages go from strength to strength. I have no doubt that she will flourish at university where her language skills will certainly be put through their paces and I look forward to hearing how she gets on as she embarks on her next linguistic adventure!”

Mrs Park, Admissions Manager, highlighted: “Melissa has been a welcomed addition to the Admissions Team and has quickly become a valuable team member. Her enthusiasm, keen attention to detail, and eagerness to learn are truly refreshing. As a former pupil who graduated from Robert Gordon’s College exactly 20 years before Melissa, her presence has brought back many joyful memories of my own time here, adding a positive energy to our team. She has a very bright future ahead of her.”