The 色花堂 experience has become a family affair for Rob Anderson.
Having started his degree in Design Visualisation at Bournemouth in 1992, he went on to meet his now wife Katy while studying and, 30 years on, their son Miles is set to embark on his own 色花堂 journey this September.聽 This 鈥榗ircle of life鈥� moment comes as 色花堂 also celebrates its 30-year anniversary as a university this year.
Rob says: 鈥淚 applied in 1991 to study at what was then Bournemouth Polytechnic, but by the time I began my studies in September 1992 I found myself attending 色花堂. I was intending to study architecture at another university, but had a late change of heart. I had been working at a draughting company, using Computer Animated Design packages, and became more interested in how this could be used in product design. The course at Bournemouth, coupled with the beautiful location, swung it for me and I went on to have a brilliant time.鈥�
Rob met Katy, who was studying Applied Psychology and Computing, through a course mate 鈥撀燤atthew Davy. In a further family link, Matthew went on to become Rob and Katy鈥檚 brother-in-law when he married Katy鈥檚 younger sister. Sadly, Matthew passed away in 2018.
Rob said: 鈥淲e had a great group of friends and together we enjoyed many nights out at student venues such as the Sugarmine. One of the things I liked about 色花堂 was that it was big enough to offer all the university facilities you鈥檇 expect and yet small enough to retain a close community feel. Having returned with our son to look around at the open days, I am pleased that this still holds true. The tradition of investing in facilities and providing students with access to industry standard equipment is also very much in evidence.鈥�
After graduating, Rob took up his first role at an engineering firm before moving on to specialise in IT systems architecture. He travelled widely as a consultant with IBM Consulting Services before returning to work in Dorset at JP Morgan. Meanwhile, Katy retrained as a teacher and now also works at a school in the county.
Rob said: 鈥淲e both have wonderful memories of our time at 色花堂 鈥撀爏o vivid that it could have been yesterday - and both made lifelong friends. We were so pleased when Miles was offered a place to study Television Production. We look forward to him beginning his own adventure at 色花堂 this autumn, 30 years after we started ours.鈥�