Caitlin's first class graduation journey despite devastating loss

Edinburgh Reporter

24-06-2025

A Heriot-Watt student, one of the group who recently promoted the revival of the Edinburgh South Sub initiative has graduated with a first class Master's degree in Civil Engineering, all despite the devastating loss of her father and her older brother during her studies.
Caitlin (23) who is from Greenock began studying at Heriot-Watt in 2019 just ahead of the pandemic which forced her and her student colleagues to transition to remote learning.
On Friday she attended graduation along with her proud mother, nana and boyfriend. After a summer trip to Australia Caitlin will return to Glasgow to being a new career with Jacobs, the engineering consultancy firm as a graduate Civil Engineer in Transportation.
Caitlin Cummings
During the summer break after her second year, Caitlin's father died suddenly. Caitlin said: ''I got a phone call saying my dad had suffered a heart attack and died. It was devastating. I had to rush home. It was during Covid, so planning the funeral and dealing with everything else was even harder.'
Despite the grief, Caitlin returned to university that September. But the emotional toll proved too much.
She said: 'I tried to keep up, but nothing was going in. My head was mush. I ended up taking a Temporary Suspension of Studies (TSS), which was the best decision. It gave me the space I needed to cope.'
Determined to continue, Caitlin resumed her studies the following year and applied for Heriot-Watt's Go Global programme, which allows students to study at the university's international campuses. She was accepted and spent the second academic semester at the Malaysia campus.
'Going to Malaysia was the best decision I ever made,' Caitlin recalled. 'It gave me the space I needed to heal. It was my best year at university. I felt confident again.'
Her father, John, who passed away aged 62, never had the opportunity to attend university himself. Caitlin said: 'University was something my dad was really proud of. Knowing that helped motivate me to keep going.
Double tragedy
But shortly after returning from Malaysia, tragedy struck again. While backpacking across Europe after finishing her coursework from her 4th year at university in the summer of 2024, Caitlin received another heartbreaking phone call. Her older brother, Scott, had died unexpectedly at just 24 years old.
'When I took the call, I was stuck on a boat and couldn't get off,' she said. 'That moment will stay with me forever.'
The loss of her brother, with whom she had shared the grief of their father's death, was crushing.
'My brother and I were very close and we leaned on each other after dad passed. Suddenly, it was just me and mum,' Caitlin said.
'She had just lost her son, and I wanted to support her. We had to deal with so much. It was a lot, and all while I was trying to finish my degree.'
She has shared her story in hope of helping someone else who might be in a similar situation, to allow them to feel a sense of hope and belief that they can get through it, and that they're not alone.
Reflecting on her achievement, Caitlin said: 'I'm trying not to think about it too much or I'll get emotional.
'University was always my choice. But having the support of my family and the university helped give me the drive to keep going. People are stronger than they think.
'Grief is not something that we ever get over, and unfortunately every day is different. There's not a timeline and there's definitely not an answer or how to, but if you're lucky, with the support of your family or friends you can get through it. I thought so many times about giving up, because it's difficult to keep going, but I was supported at every turn and encouraged to press on.'
The Edinburgh Reporter met Caitlin to talk about the Edinburgh South Sub project which she and her student colleagues used for their final year project.
Read more about that here.
Caitlin Cummings with her father and older brother
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