Sharrell Carroll is an award-winning Media and Communications graduate whose passion for storytelling, broadcasting and creativity has made her one of Fife College’s standout success stories.
In 2021, Sharrell decided to pursue a new career path. Returning to education as a mature student felt slightly daunting, and choosing the right course and college mattered deeply to her. She wanted to feel supported, understood, heard and treated as more than just a number. After Fife College was recommended to her by a friend, Sharrell quickly discovered it offered all this and more.
“Studying at Fife College was a transformative and incredibly rewarding experience,” Sharrell reflects.
She began her journey studying an Advanced Certificate in Creative Industries: Broadcast Media, where she developed core skills in content creation, scripting, presentation, audio editing, vision mixing and video editing. She also gained hands-on experience in radio broadcasting, podcasting, pitching and promotion.
Inspired to progress further, Sharrell continued on to study HNC and HND Media and Communications, immersing herself in television production, filmmaking, podcasting and radio.
“The course had everything — television production, filmmaking, podcasting, radio,” she says. “The equipment at the Glenrothes Campus is fantastic and industry-level. We were truly spoiled. It made me feel excited again and I knew right away this was where I needed to be.”
Progressing from NC to HND level, Sharrell embraced every opportunity available to her. She worked on real client projects, produced short films, and collaborated with College staff to develop CampusCast which is a sustainability focused podcast created in partnership with Fife College’s Sustainability Team.
“Working with real clients, including projects for the University of St Andrews and filming on location in Edinburgh, gave me fantastic industry insight,” Sharrell explains. “But it was radio, podcasting and documentary storytelling that really lit the flame for me.
“With encouragement from my lecturer, Scott, I revived ideas I had during COVID and launched podcasts on Spotify. That experience led to one of the most defining projects of my time at Fife College: CampusCast.”
The podcast quickly gained momentum, and Sharrell’s work began receiving significant recognition. In 2024, she won two FCSA Awards; Outstanding Performance of the Year and the Climate Impact Award, both celebrating her work on CampusCast.
Later that year, Sharrell’s storytelling reached a UK wide audience at the Student Radio Awards, where she won Gold for Best Podcast Programming for CampusCast. Her radio documentary ‘The CUT presents GLOSS’ received a Bronze Award, while her second documentary, ‘War of the Worlds’, was named runner-up, with two of her entries competing in the same category.
Her success continued on the international stage. At the International Student Broadcasting Championships (ISBC), Sharrell won Best Podcast Talent and received an additional five runner-up awards for her media projects. It was believed to be the first-ever ISBC win for Boom Radio since the station’s creation and a milestone Sharrell was immensely proud to help achieve.
Even after leaving Fife College, Sharrell’s achievements continued to grow. In 2025, CampusCast was named a finalist at the Green Gown Awards, recognising excellence in sustainability across the UK and Ireland. That same year, the ISBC shortlisted her as a finalist for Best Established Podcast, further cementing her reputation as an emerging creative talent.
Sharrell’s studies at Fife College enabled her to progress to university, where she has continued to push herself creatively. She has since produced a short film currently under consideration for an industry award, marking an exciting new phase of her development.
Alongside her professional accomplishments, Sharrell has also been recognised for her leadership and influence. In early 2025, she was invited to speak at the prestigious Fife College Russell Trust Scholarship event, and later that year returned once more as a guest speaker at the Fife College Graduation Ceremony at Dunfermline Abbey, inspiring new graduates as they began their own journeys.
Reflecting on how far she has come, Sharrell credits Fife College as a defining turning point.
“Studying at university has helped reveal skills I didn’t know I had - I have even written a television show,” she says. “But I could never have done that without the confidence and grounding I gained at Fife College. It gave me the tools to believe I could achieve more.”
From returning to education as a mature student to becoming an award-winning podcaster, documentary maker, filmmaker and speaker, Sharrell’s journey is one of rediscovery, resilience and creativity.
“Fife College prepared me for everything that came next,” she adds. “It helped me find my voice again and that voice has taken me places I never imagined.”