Sharon Maguire

Sharon Maguire graduated from Aber in 1982 with a BA in English and then completed a PGCE.  She is a Director and Screenwriter, best known for directing the blockbuster film Bridget Jones’s Diary.  

What do you remember most about your time at Aber?

The sea! A great place to pretend to study.
The eternal-yet-magical train ride to Aberystwyth each new term. 
Best friends and first loves.
English Lectures with Ian Bell RIP, the funniest and most inspiring English teacher ever.
The fear that no-one would ask you to go to those bloody May Balls.
Seeing The Stranglers in the Great Hall when I was 19.
Always missing that college bus between Penbryn and Old College for 9am lectures and having to bolt down the hill.
Too much beer drinking. Too many hangovers.
My 21st birthday party on the Pier in town. Actually I don't remember that much of it!
The library during exam time. Terrifying.

What are you doing now career-wise and how has your Aberystwyth Degree helped?

Today I'm a Mother of two boys and inbetween times, I direct films, documentaries & commercials and I write screenplays. My degree in English & Drama taught me a love of literature, stories and storytelling. It also taught me I couldn't act!

What advice would you have for a student doing your course now?

Spend less time partying and use the time to read EVERYTHING! No really! If I had my time to do it all over again, I'd relish the opportunity to read more, learn more. Because once you get to the career and kids stage, that time to study seems like a luxury wasted.