Meet Molly!
One of our incredible members is graduating this year, and we just couldn’t let her go without recognizing the great impact that she has had on us and the rest of the UVic community!
Molly Feanny is in her final semester of psychology here at UVic. On top of maintaining high grades and writing for Her Campus, Molly is also a member of the UVic Kappa Beta Gamma sorority and a volunteer research assistant for the psychology department. On top of this, she still makes time to shop, bake, and watch movies and professional soccer.
She is an absolute superstar, but what’s even more impressive is that, for Molly, playing such a big role in the UVic community usually means that she is constantly facing a communication barrier. Molly has been deaf since birth and uses both sign language and spoken/written English to communicate. Because so few people know sign language, communication, especially when meeting new people, is not always easy. Fortunately, Molly doesn’t let this hold her back! She is the only female deaf student at UVic, but she has not let this stop her from contributing to her school and making tons of friends.
Molly in Washington!
Molly joined Her Campus in the spring of 2016 and has been a big part of the magazine’s growth and development over the past couple years. She recalls being shy and uncertain when her friend initially encouraged her to join the team, but her strong desire to be involved in the UVic community and meet new friends motivated her to push through her timidness. Now, she feels that her experience with Her Campus has made her more open and self-assured, and she loves watching as other members of the club gradually gain confidence like she did. For Molly, this confidence came after writing her very first article. She remembers thinking, “What do I know about that other people here don’t?” This led her to write about her experience as a deaf person at UVic.
Molly knew that her article would be unique, but she couldn’t have anticipated the magnitude of positive feedback that it would receive. Within days, it was posted on the Her Campus National website and people everywhere were telling her how much they had enjoyed it. “I felt like I belonged in Her Campus and was worth something at that moment,” she recalls. “I think that article kickstarted my passion and motivation to write more!”
Since then, Molly has been a consistent and valuable contributor to the magazine. Most recently, she wrote about her visit to Gallaudet University, which is a university in Washington, D.C. that is designed to be barrier free for deaf and hard of hearing students. This was an incredible experience for her because, unlike at UVic, she could do things like order coffee without having to write her order down for the barista.
Looking ahead, she is excited to write articles about the film Belladonna of Sadness, and the upcoming Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs.
She may be small, but she’s an amazing ‘big”!
Molly also puts passion and hard work into her role as a member of Kappa Beta Gamma, one of UVic’s sororities. The group does lots of philanthropic and fundraising work for the Mustard Seed and the Special Olympics and also organizes various social events throughout the year. As Molly puts it, “[Being in a sorority] takes a lot of time and effort out of you, but you get rewarded with meeting a lot of people in situations that you normally wouldn’t be involved in in the first place.”
Though it can be challenging to be a quiet person in such a large group of outgoing girls, she found that by fully embracing her role in the group, whether as a volunteer or as a “big,” her identity within the sorority felt stronger and even led her to meet some of her really good friends. Her experience in the sorority also helped her gain leadership, networking and organizational skills that will assist her in her future career.
Looking back, Molly has accomplished a lot in her time here at UVic! Her favourite memories of the last few years have come from her social involvement and all the life-long friends she has made.
“Honestly, graduating feels both exciting and terrifying to me,” she says, “on one hand, you’re done with a chapter in your life, you have your degree, and you’re ready to start the next chapter! On the other hand, you do not know exactly what will happen next and the routine you’ve been used to is over.” Overall, she is proud of all the hard work, tears and dedication that went into gaining her Bachelor of Science and has lots of exciting plans for the future.
She hopes to take a well-deserved year off to work and travel before going onto graduate school. She has already planned a trip to Las Vegas, but would love to go to Japan as well. Eventually, she also hopes to visit every Disney park in the world!
Though she is not entirely sure what she wants to study next, her dream is to attend Gallaudet University for her next degree. She has many hopes and dreams for the future, but above all, she says, “I would love to move somewhere that has more people like me and I would love to inspire people. Then I would feel so happy in life!”