Father and daughter graduate together from the same university

A father and daughter are celebrating graduating together from the same university after supporting each other during their studies.

Abdallah and Alhanof Alharbi marked their educational achievements on the same day – Abdallah with a PhD in education and Alhanof with a BA in Communications from the University of Exeter.

Alhanof, 20, was inspired to study at the university after seeing her dad work towards a PhD. The pair say they enjoyed spending time with each other on campus.

All the family, which also includes mum Mona, a teacher, son Mo, 15 and daughter Danah, 9, came to Exeter in 2017 so Abdallah could study. The family has now returned to Saudi Arabia but Alhanof hopes to return to study for an MA in communications at the University of Exeter next year.

Abdallah, who graduated on the same day, but in a separate ceremony to his daughter, said: “I’m very proud of Alhanof. The best thing about being in Exeter has been the investment in my children’s education. Alhanof has her degree and my son, who arrived in the country aged 9 not speaking any English, finished his GCSEs this summer.

“I’m still getting used to having finished my PhD after so many years of work. The best part for me was learning new skills. It was also wonderful to experience a new culture. We made new friends and enjoyed exploring the countryside and beaches. Our plan is to come back to visit Exeter each summer, it feels like our second home. I liked everything, apart from fish and chips!”

Before starting his PhD Abdallah worked as a regional educational administrator in Saudi Arabia. He’s now back teaching but hopes to work as a lecturer in a university in the future. His PhD was on teacher views on using electronic textbooks and he hopes the findings will be used to guide education policy in Saudi Arabia in the future.

Alhanof hopes to eventually work in social media campaigns management. She began her degree at 17 after completing a course at the INTO international study centre in Exeter. She is part of the first cohort of Communications BA students to graduate from the University of Exeter and her practical project as part of her course involved designing a note-taking app.

Alhanof, who worked at the Student’s Guild helping with events and open days, said: “I’m looking forward to returning to Exeter for a masters course. I really enjoyed my degree. It’s helped me analyse everyday life critically and we were taught by experts well-known in their different industries.

“We were very excited to graduate, but before that family and friends celebrated with us at six different parties!

“I did see my dad around campus a lot but it wasn’t embarrassing at all. I was proud to see him. He used to think he could embarrass me by coming to ask weird questions when I was helping at Student Guild events but I just thought it was funny.”