Henry and Raisa Capetian have been together for 7 years and both graduated on the same day this month. Henry graduated from BSc Economics, Raisa from BSc Economics and Business. This is their story.
Henry and Raisa Capetian
Both in their early thirties, Henry and Raisa chose to pursue degrees later in life for different reasons. For Henry, this was his first foray into higher education, after years of working in retail and not feeling challenged. “It was a job to pay the bills and live day-to-day”, Henry explained. “Brexit happened and it sparked my interest in finance. I started looking into it, reading the Financial Times, doing a bit of market analysis and managing small investments.” Having no A-Level qualifications, Henry started by enrolling on a Foundation degree in Economics, and then doing a BSc Economics degree at Birkbeck.
For Raisa, studying at Birkbeck was her third time pursuing an Economics degree. Other opportunities had arisen for Raisa which led to her dropping out of two other universities. She began a career as an influencer, doing YouTube make up, lifestyle and wellness tutorials and blogging, amassing a number of followers. Microsoft headhunted her for a Marketing Manager role, which Raisa decided to pursue. A few years on, Raisa decided to pick up where she left off and chose to transfer her credits from other universities to Birkbeck, meaning she only studied at Birkbeck for one year.
They describe their time at Birkbeck as life changing. Henry explains, “It’s been interesting because it hasn’t been the journey I expected. I thought I’d hold the same part-time job over the three years, but I’ve had three promotions and four different jobs in that time. Studying at Birkbeck has changed the way I think and approach things and it’s allowed me to grow in ways I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to. I’m now working as an account management executive at a tech company.” Raisa adds, “Henry is a totally different person. You wouldn’t recognise him from when he started his degree.”
Making friends at Birkbeck was easy for Henry and Raisa, with Henry being part of the Economics and Finance Society. He went to their socials, bringing Raisa along. “Everyone at Birkbeck had different journeys and we felt like we belonged to a community. The society leader introduced me to a network of city banking professionals and it was great to enter that world prior to graduating”, Henry says. “The teaching at Birkbeck was great and we liked the fact that everything was so easy – you get all the course notes well in advance”, Raisa adds.
On their Graduation day, Henry and Raisa felt disbelief, pride and joy. “I’m the first person in my family to graduate”, says Raisa, “so it was an emotional day for me. My grandparents couldn’t read and write and they always used to say ‘we work with our hands but you work with your brain – keep being creative and never stop studying’ – I was thinking about them the most on that day and how proud they’d be.”
Both Henry and Raisa are looking ahead to the future and considering Master’s degrees at Birkbeck. Raisa is looking to pursue a Master’s in January in Marketing, “I’m really proud to be part of Birkbeck, an institution where I can hand on heart say it aligns with my values and morals.”
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Henry and Raisa Capetian
