'Proud mum' hands her son parchment on stage at University of Limerick
ONE NERVOUS mum was on stage as her son graduated from the University of Limerick.
UL President, Professor Kerstin Mey, had the best location to watch her son graduate this Thursday as she was on stage to hand him his parchment.
Professor Kerstin Mey had the extremely rare dual role as both the senior officiating academic and proud mum at today’s graduation ceremony.
Her son, Ben Reddy, was conferred with a BSc in Exercise and Health Fitness Management from the School of Physical Education and Sports Sciences in UL’s Faculty of Education and Health Sciences.
The President’s son is among over 3,500 students graduating from University of Limerick this week.
“I am extremely excited this week because I am the proud mum of a son who is graduating from UL,” Professor Mey had said ahead of the ceremony this Thursday afternoon.
“I think my son is both excited and apprehensive to take part in the ceremonies – he will see me handing out the parchments but also, I don’t think that his peers know that he is my son,” she laughed.
Ben, who turns 24 this September, is currently working as a fitness trainer in Limerick. He was able to explore one of his own career goals in his final year project.
“I put together a business plan for a mobile fitness business – effectively having a gym in the back of a van and being able to go into public parks or a person’s house and bring personal training and strength and conditioning directly to individuals and clubs. It’s not really been done before, so I thought I’ll give it a go and see what happens.”
And on his time in University of Limerick with his mum as President, Ben said: “I am extremely proud of everything that she is doing – that motivates me to keep pushing on and try and do as much as I can for myself. I hope to be able to carry the torch myself at some point, in my own right, in my own career.”