After graduating from Queen’s and spending three incredibly formative years abroad, Rachel came back to the UK to complete a postgraduate diploma in Newspaper Journalism. She kicked off her reporting career in London with the Daily Mail.

Two years later, she was transferred to New York — a move that ended up becoming permanent. Fifteen years on, she’s now based there as a Managing Editor at CNN.

Rachel has also been named one of the 18–45 Leaders, a recognition that celebrates and highlights graduates who are making an impact and inspiring others through what they’ve achieved.

“To be included in this series feels like a full-circle moment. It’s a reminder of just how important those years were in shaping the confidence and ambition I carry with me today.”

Looking back on her time at Queen’s, Rachel credits the support and encouragement she received from her professors and tutors. They helped her grow as a writer and gave her the confidence to pursue journalism.

“The skills I developed — things like critical thinking, storytelling, breaking down complex ideas and communicating them clearly — are ones I use every single day in my role now.”

And it’s not just the academic side that stuck with her. Rachel is still close with friends she met on her course more than twenty years ago.

“Some of my closest friendships started in those seminar rooms,” she says. “I still love coming back to Belfast, walking through the Quad, and thinking about all those memories.”