Some 3,000 students attended January graduations at Queen Mary University of London recently. There were six days of ceremonies, with approximately 6,000 guests accompanying the delighted graduates at these celebratory events.
During breaks in proceedings, graduates’ shared on three separate videos their views about their time at the University’s School of Politics and International Relations, School of Mathematics and School of Languages, Linguistics and Film.
Many offered advice to Queen Mary undergraduates and to those considering applying to university, from making the most of their studies to grasping the chance to meet new people through the many societies and social clubs.
Queen Mary’s graduates spoke of their “amazing lecturers”, with access to equipment and resources to help them with their degrees.
Emma-Beth Lacey from Windsor in the UK studied for a Masters in Mathematics and said she was “ecstatic” to graduate. When asked about the good things at Queen Mary she said: “There was always support – it’s one of the best things that you can have from a university.”
Ilias Menenakos from Greece graduated with a MSc in Data Analytics, and expressed his delight at having achieved his goals and accomplishments. Ilias spoke positively about his experience at Queen Mary, saying that the good things were “the Professors and the way they communicated the topics for the MSc, and that everything was well-organised - such as the exams.”
Thomas Byrne from the UK graduated in International Relations, and said that the ceremony was an opportunity to see everyone again and celebrate. He shared how helpful the community at Queen Mary was to him during his studies, “that everyone's really friendly, really open and collaborative. If you want to talk about something you're doing in class or just in general, there's plenty of people who are going to hang out and help you out.”
For future students, Thomas’s advice was “to be open minded and flexible. You might have an idea as to what you want to study and it's really important to follow those passions and goals. But be open minded and let yourself take other classes that you might not have thought about taking before.”
His tips on making the most of university life were to “talk to your professors, get to know them as well as you can. They're incredibly knowledgeable and they're going to help you out along the way, and you'll just get more out of your experience if you really throw yourself in and get to know them well.”
Veronika Scherer travelled from Kansas City, USA to graduate for her MA in Politics, saying she was “very happy and very proud of my accomplishments.”
Veronika said: “There's so many great things about studying at Queen Mary - the resources and also the structure of the programme really kept me studying. The help from the teachers really made it feel like family, and also from the fellow students. We all supported each other. Overall, I’m really happy that I chose Queen Mary, to be part of the University.”
For media information, contact: