Queen¡¯s graduate says, ¡°It¡¯s never too late to follow your dream!¡±
Rosemary Stevenson (aged 50) from Ballymena, Co Antrim, will graduate today with a First Class Honours degree and top of her class from Queen¡¯s for the second time, having managed to do the same when graduating in Law from Queen¡¯s in 1993.
Rosemary, who has practised in commercial property law for the past 25 years, said: ¡°I've always loved history and while I¡¯ve had a really enjoyable and interesting career as a lawyer, when approaching my half century, I thought if I don't do something about it now, I never will. I got married in 2018, just before starting the course, and I would never have embarked on such a crazy few years without the support and encouragement of my husband, Douglas who is a fellow Queen¡¯s law grad.¡±
Rosemary has been in practice with Belfast law firm, , since 1997, becoming its first female partner in 2001. She continued to work practically full-time since returning to Queen¡¯s, and for the past two years has also taught one day per week in the School of Law at Queen¡¯s alongside studying for her degree.
She commented: ¡°When I started the degree, I hadn't planned to teach law as well, but the opportunity came up and was too interesting to turn down. I had also planned to scale back on my legal practice, but old habits die hard. It has been a busy few years, but I¡¯m grateful to my firm Carson McDowell for giving me total flexibility, and to my clients for their continued support.
¡°I didn¡¯t tell too many of my teachers that I was juggling other roles whilst studying, but those who knew were extremely supportive, particularly my long-suffering dissertation supervisor, Dr Andrew Holmes, who gave me a lot of flexibility to do things my way rather than in the usual sequence.¡±
Speaking about the most enjoyable part of her experience as a student at Queen¡¯s for the second time, Rosemary explained: ¡°I loved every moment of my history course. On an academic level ¨C the exposure to such brilliant academics was fantastic. I was lucky enough to do a course with Professor Mary O'Dowd before she retired from teaching and count that as a great privilege. On a non-academic level, I participated in the Queen¡¯s homework club scheme for two years until the pandemic hit. I volunteered at the Frank Gillen Centre and absolutely loved the kids there.¡±
After graduating, Rosemary plans to work on a book about Irish land law with Professor Heather Conway from the School of Law at Queen¡¯s. She then hopes to go back and further her history studies with a view to teaching one day.
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