Hello,

My name is Allan Macdonald and I am originally from the Royal Bourgh of Tain, a small town in the north of the Scottish Highlands.  I attended Craighill Primary school and then Tain Royal Academy, where a gained my 6 Higher Grades in English, Chemistry, Geography, Mathematics, Physical Education and Physics.  Having a strong Engineering background, my father being an Engineer, I decided to pursue this career path as I enjoyed and was good at the technical subjects in secondary school. 

In 2003 I left Tain to attend the University of Edinburgh with the intention of completing a 5 year Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering.  I found it easy to adjust to city life, however I soon began to realise that my course of choice may have been slightly naive.  I pressed on and successfully completed second year, however third year presented some unseen challenges.  I took up the sort of Judo, a sport that I enjoyed and was very successful at as a young boy, and after only starting back up I was soon competing once again.

In September 2005 I joined the Full-time Elite Athlete Judo Programme at the Edinburgh Club, being coached by former Olympians Billy Cusack and David Sommerville.  The combination of a time consuming and mentally demanding University course and being a Full-time athlete did not mix well and I soon began choosing my sport over my studies.  I made the important decision to finish off my third year engineering exams in order to gain a Bachelors of Engineering; however I still have two courses to complete to receive the award.  Having left a degree part finished I decided that I would enrol in another University course, however this time I made the correct decision.

I enrolled in the Sport and Exercise Science Bachelors Degree run by Napier University in 2006.  The course is far better structured to fit in with my active lifestyle and has already proven to be beneficial in promoting improvement in my Judo.  I am currently finishing off second year and I am looking forward to the modules that will be studied next year, hopefully they will be as enjoyable as those I have just completed.

Having had the experience of attending a University course that I did not really enjoy or complete I feel that obtaining a university degree essential and beneficial for my future adventures.  I am however very motivated to continue training full-time for Judo and I have the very real and achievable goal of competing at World or Olympic Games, even though it may seem a long way off for the moment.