From anxiety to acting - the Stow College graduate who’s transformed her life

CASE STUDY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

26^Th November 2012

From anxiety to acting - the Stow College graduate who’s transformed her life

Marilyn Sweeting has a lot to be proud of. For the 21 year old, graduating at Stow College symbolises a complete life transformation.

Before studying Marilyn, from Glasgow, had almost completely shut herself away from the world.  A troubled childhood had slowly evolved into serious depression and anxiety leaving the young woman feeling isolated and lacking any confidence.

But a childhood dream of becoming an actress helped rescue her from her demons.

Marilyn said: “I had always fantasised about a career in acting but genuinely didn’t think I was good enough. I reached the stage where I struggled to cope if a stranger even glimpsed at me, but one day I decided to take control of the situation and applied to study the HND Acting & Performance course at Stow College. I performed a monologue in front of the teaching staff and they were pretty impressed and intrigued as it was something I had written myself. The performance was based around a character I had invented for myself and it actually marked a point in my life when I could leave that person behind and become me for the first time.”

Lecturers at Stow College described Marilyn as having ‘raw talent’ and instantly signed her up for the HND programme. Since that day, she’s never looked back.

“It certainly hasn’t been an easy journey for me. I’ve had to overcome a lot of personal challenges including moving into my own place for the first time, but I’m so grateful to Stow College for getting me where I am today. My confidence has been given such a boost and I’m now completely at ease performing in front of an audience of hundreds. I also met my boyfriend and my best friend at the college so student life really has changed me as a person.

“Now that I’ve graduated, I’ve been auditioning for a number of acting roles and have just been accepted for a leading part in an independent film due to go into production soon. I just want to say thank you to Stow College for teaching me to believe in myself and aim for the best.”

-ENDS-

Image 1: Marilyn Sweeting

Notes to Editors: Marilyn is one of approximately 200 students who took part in this year’s Stow College annual graduation ceremony.

For more information, contact: Brian O’Neill, Halogen Communications, (T) 0131 202 0120 (F) 0131 225 3757 (E) brian@halogencom.com