Triple celebration: graduation, wedding proposal and birthday

TRINIDADIAN law student Phillip Wilson had a triple celebration during Staffordshire University’s Awards Week – with a wedding proposal, graduation and his fiancé’s birthday.

During his award ceremony, 46-year-old Phillip popped the question to girlfriend Janelle John on the ceremony hall platform in front of a packed audience and hundreds of fellow graduates.

Janelle, who turned 34 on the same day, said: “The proposal was a shock. I said ‘yes’.”

Phillip had been planning the proposal for sometime and had enlisted the help of his lecturers. He said: “The whole law school was involved in the surprise.”

The couple, from Trinidad and Tobago, are now planning to return home, where Phillip intends to finish his training to become a lawyer.

As a former police officer, he had gone six years without a holiday to build up enough lieu time to come to the UK to study for the Legal Practice Course (LPC).

He said: “I was a police officer for 20 years and I’ve always been interested in the law, since I was 12 years old. I have been studying for many years in Trinidad and then I stopped taking my time off since around 2005 so I could come to Staffordshire.

“It has been more than worth it. Staffordshire is the place to be and the teaching never stops, the learning never stops and the staff is always available.”

Phillip was encouraged to come to Staffordshire University by the founder of the Institute of Law and Academic Studies (ILAS) in Trinidad and Tobago, Gail Narinesingh, who is an Honorary Doctor of Staffordshire University.

ILAS’s link with Staffordshire University was formed in 2002 and has seen dozens of students from Trinidad and Tabago come to the UK to gain their final year qualifications.