I’m packing to travel to Hull for my eldest son’s graduation tomorrow, the proudest day of my life, and for so many other parents too. I must remember to include a big wad of tissues as I know it will be an emotional moment.

David has a 2.1 in Economics and Marketing and it has been a life changing experience for him. I remember him first leaving home and feeling sad that he was so far away and worrying what he would eat. Within weeks he had met his lovely partner Fiona and they are still together, soul mates for each other. She is bright and ambitious, achieving a 1st in Economics, and has been a tremendous source of encouragement for David, and likewise. They both worked incredibly hard and I am so thrilled for their success.

David’s four year course included a year’s internship and he was placed with Marks & Spencer (there were 9,000 applicants for 40 odd positions) and he has now been offered a position on their graduate training management programme, one of the most sought after in the UK.

Sports loving David rapidly became a supporter of Hull FC Rugby League, and I’m sure he will be loyal to them for the rest of his life. I even had to tape their recent match for David when he was away in Tenerife. He also played football for his university and has made friends for life there.

But his greatest luck was going to such a terrific university with a fantastic business school and dedicated lecturers. I’ve never met anyone who has a bad word to say about it. David has become fond of the city too saying Hull doesn’t deserve the bad press it gets. He’s even got used to the rain!

Last week David received a beautiful hand written letter from one of his lecturers congratulating him on his result, saying he was in the top fifth out of 300 for his International Marketing paper, and offering to provide a reference if he should ever need one.

I wrote to this kind lecturer thanking him for everything he had done for David, and saying how I doubted I could survive the graduation without welling-up.

He replied, “I have checked the rules  and confirmed that ‘welling up’ is entirely permissible on graduation days under university regulations and is in fact, actively encouraged, so please feel free ;-”

I can see now how David was in very good hands, and I cannot recommend Hull University highly enough.

Congratulations and good luck to David and Fiona for their life ahead, and to all the other students who are graduating this summer too, I hope they all find jobs.