analysis

More than two decades ago, I arrived in Dundee, not quite from foreign climes, but unaware of the delights student life in the city could hold.

At the time, Dundee University’s current reputation as a world leader in biosciences was only beginning to burgeon, but it was already a destination for overseas students.

It rarely felt like the country’s sunniest city – long student holidays “back home” meant the best of the weather was missed – but there was no shortage of attractions.

A central hub of pubs and clubs from the top of Perth Road to the city centre meant entertainment was easily accessible in and around the campus, while decent accommodation was plentiful.

The feeling of community this engenders is still in evidence.

Local people were aware of the importance of students to the economy and were welcoming, rather than viewing us as the nuisance we could undoubtedly be.

That many of the foreign students I shared my time with in the mid-’90s elected to stay in Scotland, often in Tayside, is no surprise.

Dundee has been a city on an upward trajectory for a considerable time – even before the development of the waterfront began, it seemed to be bursting with potential and the university felt central to that.

Hopefully the recent Brexit vote does nothing to dissuade foreign students from coming to Dundee.

They will be missing out and the city would be a poorer place without them.