Spring graduation 2021

Our Spring 2021 graduation ceremonies were held virtually due to the pandemic, between Tuesday 27 April and Thursday 29 April 2021, and streamed live via YouTube. They were designed to reflect our in-person ceremonies, including speeches from our Vice-Chancellor, President, College Orator, academic staff and alumni.

Graduation stories

Spring Graduation saw over 2,400 students from more than 47 countries graduate.

Here are some of their remarkable personal stories - we celebrate their astounding achievements and wish all our graduates every success.

'I flew to the other side of the world to study at Birkbeck'

Shernette Edwards-Rowe left her home and family in Jamaica to pursue her lifelong dream of studying MSc Children, Youth and International Development in the UK.

'Don’t call me El Chapo!'

Azucena Garcia Gutierrez has made it her mission to represent the best of Mexican culture, using learnings from studying MA Applied Linguistics and Communication.

Crossing borders to explore new horizons

Carolyn Stillman travelled to the UK from the USA to complete a degree in MA Language Teaching and used her time to travel and throw herself into a different way of life.

From working in criminal justice to lecturing at a university

Janet Omondi studied for a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education to aid her career transition from working in the National Probation Service to lecturing at a university.

A student's perspective on online learning

Janet Omondi reflects on her experiences of online learning and explains Birkbeck‘s online platforms.

'The support I received from Birkbeck was second to none'

Ella Michalski became pregnant with twins during her LLB Law degree and experienced many health complications.

Overcoming alcohol and drug addiction to achieve a Master’s degree

Azad Ashim Sharma undertook an MA in Creative and Critical Writing degree, while experiencing personal challenges with alcohol and substance misuse.

'It’s never too late to achieve your goals and ambitions'

Netty Yasin spent her life advocating for her daughters and her community, before deciding to pursue her lifelong ambition of a legal career, by undertaking the Qualifying Law Degree (LLM).

'Never betray your dreams, they are yours!'

Aygun Badalova grew up in a low-income family in Azerbaijan and taught herself fluent English to fulfil her lifelong dream of studying an MSc in Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuropsychology in England.

Life as an Indian scholar in London

MA Journalism student, Vimal Chander Joshi, found studying in London a totally immersive experience, so much so he wrote a book about it.