It was a preamble to a tribute to Scottish education awards being run by the Daily Record newspaper, but BBC Scotland presenter, Jackie Bird – writing in Record sister title, the Sunday Mail, at the weekend – was nevertheless able to talk of her own recent educational achievement, describing it as a “humbling experience”.
She was referring, of course, to the honorary degree she had received a few days' previously from the University of Glasgow.
And striking just the right tone, the Sunday Mail columnist wrote: “The degree ceremony was a humbling experience. I found myself alongside people who really have excelled in their field.
“For example, I was sandwiched between the boss of the CERN institute, whose Hadron Collider experiment could change the face of physics as we know it, and a surgeon who doesn't study medical reference books – he has them named after him.
“As most of my fellow recipients were foreign, hopefully they'll never find out that I don't actually run the BBC in Scotland nor do I already have a Nobel Peace prize.”
