When Colin McIntyre lost his job in the oil industry, he decided to take a leap of faith and return to his studies.
Seven years on, 48-year-old Colin has graduated with his MBA in Energy Management and has managed to turn what could have been a negative experience into a new opportunity.
He’d always wanted to get his MBA, so decided to embark on the programme part-time, to balance career development with finances.
Colin says: “The Energy Management course seemed the obvious choice as my strength was in the oil and gas sector and I wanted to increase my skills and network with other students.
“I decided to attend the University of Aberdeen to do my MBA because at the time they were flexible on the payment plan.
“I also liked the University's traditional aspects. Every time I was in some of the older buildings, they had a really good studious environment to learn in.”
Colin initially planned to graduate in 2020 but when the pandemic hit, this delayed completing his studies further.
“I completed all my taught subjects and just had my dissertation to do. Originally, I planned to focus on the dissertation at the weekends but had to support my mum and do her shopping as she was in a high-risk category.
“It really has been a challenging journey with many unexpected events along the way, but I've certainly come out the other end a different person than I was going in.”
Through his studies, Colin managed to rebuild his self-esteem and doing so led him down a path he hadn’t anticipated.
He continues: “When I started the course, I had just come through a difficult time at my previous work where I was made redundant. Starting the MBA, I felt I was progressing towards something again.
“As well as starting to gain my confidence back from the course, I found I was developing as a person and started to realise my own strengths and weaknesses, especially from the first module about leadership.
“From this, I decided to not pursue an employment route and decided to grow my part-time procurement training company into a full-time business.
“I want to continue to grow my training business in the UK and increase exposure into international markets. For the first time in my life, I have a real plan in place. I also feel that I’ve found a real purpose in what I now do.
“Each year that passes I find areas of the MBA that I can connect to and use to develop the business further, the findings of my dissertation have proved integral into the future direction of my company.
"I also have many of the books and course material on my bookshelf that I dip into every now and again to keep me on track, in many ways the learning has only just started.”