Mollie overcomes challenges to graduate from Queen’s
Mollie Egan-Crossan, aged 22 and from Derry/Donegal, will today (Saturday 1 July) graduate from the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast with a 2:1 BA (Hons) in Film and Theatre Making.
Mollie, overcame mental health challenges during her time at University to graduate with her dream degree.
Speaking about her experience, Mollie said: “At secondary school I was head girl, on the student council, setting up clubs to support women, and doing media interviews talking about current affairs. On paper, it made sense that I should thrive at university.
“My first year was during the pandemic, along with personal struggles and relationship issues my mental health took a tumble. While I managed to pass all my classes, my attendance wasn't always great, and I never felt like I truly met any friends.”
After a challenging start, Mollie was determined to get help and have a more enjoyable experience for the rest of her university journey.
She continued: “In second year, I was ready to admit that I was depressed, and I decided to do something about it by speaking to a therapist which helped me a lot.
“I then decided to join a society at Queen’s, the Musical Theatre Society, where I finally got to know people and the rehearsals broke the week up for me. Then in my second and third year I decided to push myself out of my comfort zone. I ended up being the course representative for my degree, and I joined the student blogging programme where I created YouTube videos and articles for the University.
“I was actually able to help a few people from my old school navigate their first year at Queen's and reach people through my TikTok platform where I have 15,000 followers, giving them advice on beginning their university journey.”
Talking about her favourite memory from her time at Queen’s, Mollie commented: “The most enjoyable experience was making my final project for my cinematography class in second year. The script chosen for the film was one I had written and as a result I got to try my hand at casting, directing, producing - seeing my vision come to life. Being on set for that and raising funding to pay the actors was a great experience. I finally felt more like my confident self, and it made me think that creative writing could be a good career avenue for me.”
Looking ahead to her graduation day, Mollie added: “It feels very surreal to be graduating, my degree went by in the blink of an eye. I feel really proud, and I can’t wait to have my family standing on campus with me when I graduate.”
After graduation, Mollie hopes to embark on her Master’s degree in Creative Writing at Queen’s.
For more information about BA (Hons) Film and Theatre Making at Queen’s, please visit: https://www.qub.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/film-theatre-making-ba-ww65/
Media
For media inquiries, please contact comms.office@qub.ac.uk