Thank you: Manchester graduates on the colleagues who helped them get here

14 Jul 2026

Behind every graduate is a network of colleagues who helped them along the way. Hear from three students preparing to cross the stage.

Over the next two weeks, Anna, Emilia and Wafia will each cross the stage at their graduation ceremony.

"You've taken somebody who started first year of university with an idea that they might be a doctor, but not really understanding that it was a realistic goal," said Wafia, "to someone who can now see her own career building ahead of her. The gratitude can't be overstated."

Ask any of the three what graduation means to them, and they end up talking about the same thing: the people who got them there. Lecturers. Supervisors. And some whose names most students never learn, but have a big impact on our students' journey.

Academic mentors who went further

Anna's dissertation supervisor, David Poyla, supported her from before she'd even confirmed her placement.

"He has really helped me through the entire process, from the very start," she said. "He was there for me from day one."

For Wafia, that mentorship came from Professor Bilal Alkaf, a consultant surgeon who supervised her research project, and kept supporting her long after it ended.

"He didn't stop his support," she said. "He oversaw the write-up of my paper, and he even introduced me to conferences I could submit my work to. I ended up presenting at a national conference to experts I would never have dreamt of meeting otherwise."

Emilia found the same in Dr Simon Ruding, director of the Theatre in Prisons course.

"He cares so much about what he does, and that permeates for every student that he teaches," she said. "Everyone who does the course leaves it a more confident facilitator, and with this incredible respect for Simon."

The unsung heroes

Wafia spoke about pastoral staff on her placement, coordinators and clinical teachers who noticed when something wasn't right.

"They take the time to ask how you are," she said. "I owe them so much in terms of getting to the end of my degree."

Then there were the people she saw every day, without ever really knowing them at all.

"There's a lot of staff, especially security guards and cleaners in the libraries, and when they see you in the same space a lot, you build a connection," she said. "One security guard actually stopped me and asked if I wanted to take a walking break, because you've been sat down for a very long time. That sort of awareness, you can't feign that sort of care."

"That's all down to the people that have helped"

"I couldn't thank the faculty enough," said Emilia. "They're so supportive, so kind, always happy to take time with you, not just on an academic level, but a personal one too."

"I can see my life forming in front of my eyes, and it's just so exciting," said Wafia. "And that's all down to the people that have helped."