Anna Fraser

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Your time at the University

I came to Edinburgh from Prague in 1968 for a student internship at the Hill Farming Research Organization (HFRO) an Organisation whose aim was to improve the economic viability of the production of meat animals in the United Kingdom.

When the Soviet invasion took place in August that year, the University of Edinburgh quickly gave me enormous help. I was not only accepted by the University to read for a BSc in Agricultural Science, but given accommodation and a basic grant from a student Hardship Fund, and thus the fantastic opportunity to do a degree in Edinburgh. At that time which, for me, was very difficult, I was also helped generously by many members of the University academic community who encouraged me every step of the way. My time in Edinburgh gave me an amazing start to life in the UK, and I have never stopped being grateful for all that both the institution, and the people of Scotland, have given me.

This is the best time of your life...so make the most of your time here.

Anna Fraser

Tell us about your Experiences since leaving the University

After leaving Edinburgh, I came to Oxford where my husband Donald, also an Edinburgh graduate (1971 Geology and Chemistry), was doing his D.Phil. and worked briefly as a biologist for a publisher.  However, my degree from Edinburgh was a key to many other doors. Although we have lived all over the world while doing research, we have been based in Oxford ever since, as Donald became first a Junior Research Fellow at Merton College and then obtained a permanent position in the Dept. of Earth Sciences teaching Geochemistry. He is currently Senior Fellow of Worcester College and Professor of Earth Sciences.

For 32 years, I worked in the Computer Services Department at Brookes University, Oxford. However, 15 years ago, I started at Brookes as a part-time student in the Social Anthropology of Japan, first a gaining a Master's Degree followed by a PhD.  I am still active in this area having obtained a number of research grants and have just curated an exhibition of Japanese war diaries written by children in 1944-45. The exhibition has toured Europe from Oxford, England to Prague and in 2017 opens in the Heritage site of Lidice in the Czech Republic.

Alumni wisdom

Work hard and play hard while studying at this excellent university. This is the best time of your life when your only responsibility is to yourself so make the most of your time here.

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