Torcher Parade

Every May, the students of Aberdeen University get dressed up and take to the streets for the annual Torcher Parade, the second largest torchlit parade in the world.

Established back in 1889, the event raises around £10,000 for charity and draws crowds of up to 40,000 from all over the North East of Scotland. Scotland Is The Place joined in to get the low-down on student life in Aberdeen...

Christian Kramer
Shared Planet Society

!I was born in Germany. I'd never been to Britain before I started here at uni. It was the course in politics and international relations that made me come to the UK. Britain has quite a high reputation for universities in general and for politics in particular. Aberdeen was a good choice, absolutely. It’s a little city but it still has everything."

Corinne Mayhew
Surf Club

"I'm from Harrogate in North Yorkshire. I chose Aberdeen because they have a good English department. It's nice to by the sea and near the mountains. Yes, we surf in Aberdeen! You get really good waves. We also go down to Newquay once a year for the British University Championships. We came 8th out of all the universities and the boys came 9th."

Judith Brack
Welfare Society

"Aberdeen has a very good student life, the general atmosphere and the university itself is really good – it’s a nice place. I’m from Aberdeen originally. I had heard that the uni had a very good law faculty. I did consider moving away but I’m quite happy here."

Daniel Tan
Shelterstone

"The course I chose – computer network management design – was the only one in the UK, so that was my main reason for coming to Aberdeen. The majority of people in my class are from overseas – India, Malaysia, Nigeria. Shelterstone is involved in climbing and hill walking. About once a month we’ll go on a climbing and hill walking trip at the weekend."

Katie Irwin
Surf Club

"I'm from Lincoln. I picked Aberdeen because it’s near the mountains and the sea and it had good courses in sociology. Life in Scotland is just nice. After these exams, our last ones, I think we’re going to go over to the islands and see a bit more of Scotland. I surf a bit too. It is scary going out in the water in Aberdeen first because it’s so cold but it's good."

Ruth van Lare
Lacrosse Club

"I've lived everywhere, like all round the world. I’ve just moved from Belgium and I was born in Cyprus, lived in Belize and Germany. Being a student in Aberdeen is good – good social life and tons of people, so it's easy to make friends. And it’s quite small, so everyone knows everyone."

Neil Pedersen
SCROLL

"Aberdeen is good for students. I'm studying maths and stats and I graduate in July this year. I could certainly settle here, I’d be happy to settle here. SCROLL is Scottish Romanian Language Link. We send students from Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh and St Andrews to teach underprivileged children in Romania."

Adrienne Rourdan
International Students Association

"I'm from Utah. I did a year and a half of college in Arizona but I wasn’t being challenged. UCAS came up on a Google search and I started looking at the schools in the UK and Scotland. I’m studying politics and international relations with a joint in management studies. The school I’m going to at Aberdeen University was founded three years after Columbus sailed to find where I live in the States! It’s kind of amazing."

Darren Gibb
SCROLL

"I chose Aberdeen because I knew quite a few folk up here and it’s always seemed like a really nice friendly place. I'm studying English. I want to be an English teacher. I’d also like to teach Scottish lit. There’s lots of great Scottish literature – Iain Banks, Alan Spence, who’s director of creative writing up here, and also going back to people like Robert Burns."

Thanks to Fiona Wark and all the societies involved in the Torcher Parade for their help. You can find out more about Aberdeen University at www.abdn.ac.uk.

If you like the sound of studying in Scotland, find out more.