“It’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made” – Joint honours graduate and Chancellor’s Award Winner, Rosanna McNamara, shares how joining Reading was the start of a transformative journey that shaped her career and creativity.
Fine art and history of art graduate, Rosanna shared with CONNECTED how life led her to study at the University of Reading, and how her passions have eventually brought her – quite unexpectedly – towards a highly rewarding role as Student Content Manager at King’s College, London.
The path to art school
Art had always been Rosanna’s favourite subject at school, but her arrival at Reading didn’t take the most direct route. She explained:
“Before coming to Reading I took a short detour into architecture, but it just wasn’t for me. I left my course, worked for the remainder of that academic year and applied to study fine art and history of art at a few institutions – with Reading being my top choice.”
Rosanna recalled the moment she received her offer to study at Reading School of Art as a real turning point: “It was a tough year for me, so I was ecstatic when I received an offer to study a joint-honours degree in fine art and history of art.”
“It is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and I’m proud of myself for following my heart.”
The best of both worlds
For Rosanna, studying a joint-honours degree allowed her to combine two passions, while opening doors to a wider community of students and lecturers. She shared:
“I really enjoyed my course. The structure of the joint programme meant I met lots of different people from the two courses. It was a great way to make more friends and connections across the University.”
Aside from her academic achievements, Rosanna enjoyed an active social life at the University.
“I have so many fond memories – too many to count! But the most cherished memories are of the friends I made, they have had such an incredible impact on my life; I even met my future husband through one of them.”
Rosanna, who got married in May of this year, celebrated alongside her University friends, including one who travelled all the way from Greece to be part of their special day. She shared:
“These friendships are testament to how impactful universities can be, not just for our careers but for our personal lives too.”
Life beyond Reading
Even after she graduated, Rosanna’s time at Reading continued to influence the direction she took. She shared: “I enjoyed one of my history of art modules at Reading so much that I wanted to continue studying it at master’s level. It was a module called ‘Framing piety’, which explored how religious beliefs can be communicated and exalted through art.
“I was accepted to study MA Christianity and the Arts at King’s College London and continued studying my love of art.”
After graduating, Rosanna found her career at King’s. She first worked within the Culture Team before moving into student communications, where she now works as a Student Content Manager. She shared:
“I’m one of four Content Managers in the team. I lead campaigns focused on community and engagement, as well as the student lifecycle. I oversee a fortnightly newsletter, as well as the programme of welcome communications sent out to our new students.”
Rosanna sees the development of the welcome programme as one of her proudest achievements in her role:
“Since I took on the ‘Welcome’ communications for new students in 2021, I have expanded the campaign from targeting 6 student groups to over 14 and have seen a marked increase in engagement.”
She added how her work in this area has even gained external recognition: “Last year, I was invited to present my work on the campaign at a CASE conference, which received positive feedback from attendees. I was then very pleased that my colleague, Lottie, and I won Grand Gold in the global CASE Circle of Excellence Awards this year for the campaign.
“Lottie is also a University of Reading graduate. Without her support, the campaign wouldn’t have existed as it is.”
Supporting new generations of students
Reflecting on her career, Rosanna says she has realised what motivates her most: “I recognised that I am driven by helping people and problem solving, two things that are crucial for effective communications. It’s great to be able to work in an area that marries my creativity with my values.
“I love being able to support a new generation of students and help them get the best out of their experience.”
Another project she’s very proud of is the King’s Student Life Content Creators programme, which she helped establish. Rosanna explained:
“The Student Life Content Creators programme is an initiative that pays students to create content about their King’s experience for our channels. But it is so much more than that – it has a huge focus on supporting students’ employability and career readiness.
As someone who benefitted from universities’ offering of paid work to students and recent graduates, I feel strongly about creating paid opportunities for students, especially as the job market has become increasingly fraught.”
A return to Reading
In 2011, Rosanna was one of the very first recipients of the Chancellor’s Award after achieving the highest grades in the first year of her bachelor’s degree at Reading. At the beginning of this year, she was invited to return to the Chancellor’s Award ceremony, this time as alumni.
The Chancellor’s Award is an annual event, hosted by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, that celebrates academic success. The ceremony recognises the achievements of those with the highest grades from across the student community.
She shared: “I really appreciated being invited back. It was wonderful to celebrate the current students, and I hope they are super proud of themselves.”
Looking back at her time at Reading, Rosanna believes that one of the most important things she learnt was “to follow her heart”, even when it’s not easy:
“It’s still a battle. I get caught up in worrying about what I ‘should’ do or what I think is expected of me. But I’ve learnt where to focus my energy and what really drives me, which is ultimately my values.”
Advice for others
As someone who works with students every day and remembers very well what it was like to be one, Rosanna offered the following advice to current students:
“We can get caught up in assessments and deadlines, and of course these are important, but university is more than just your course. Check out what extracurricular opportunities there are to gain experience and skills outside of academic life. Take the opportunity to grow your network and meet new people.”
And to recent graduates, she shares a reminder that life doesn’t always follow a linear path:
“We live in an increasingly interdisciplinary world, so don’t worry if you haven’t found your focus. Try lots of things and you’ll bring more experience and skills to the table.
“Be open to change and new possibilities.”
Your story is our story
We love to hear from our alumni about all the wonderful things you have achieved since graduating and how Reading was part of your journey.
If you have a story that you would like to share, please email us at alumni@reading.ac.uk.
