Our Alumni Spotlight Series has been revamped for 2023/24 but to complete our stories from last year, we are hearing from Hugo Khorsand, who featured last academic year. He previously spoke about his experience on his placement. His wise words were about resilience and making the most of opportunities, a philosophy he shares again when looking specifically at his dyslexia.

Hugo graduated with a first in BSc (Hons) Accounting and Finance in 2021 and is currently Head of Operations for Housr – Path, via a Graduate role as Finance Executive at Bruntwood. He faces new challenges every day in his current role, but the grounding he gained throughout his time at Manchester Met means he has the skills to navigate those challenges. 

Hugo spoke to me about his time in our department , including the highs and lows of placements, societies, and dyslexia. Huge has already featured in an excellent post about placements.

Hugo on Dyslexia: Dyslexia is my superpower! 

‘I found out about my dyslexia late on – while I was in college. I thought, ‘Ok, I’m not going to be good at anything’. But during my degree, I put the correct procedures in place for myself. I used programs like Grammarly and I would ask friends to spell check my work and check my grammar. Just asking for help is important. 

Dyslexia means I think about things differently to other people, so completing my degree was about managing my time into smaller blocks and not letting myself lose focus. I think of myself as ‘bad’ at the writing aspect, so I knew I had to spend more time on that. But I also know with the idea generation and execution of tasks, I’m a lot better and I get quite energetic, but it’s about using my skills and that energy in the right way.  

I can run 1000 miles. I just need to make sure I run in the right direction.’

Hugo has spoken about his personal way of harnessing his dyslexia. Manchester Met offers a whole range of disability support, so visit to find out how we can help you Disability Support | Manchester Metropolitan University (mmu.ac.uk)