Munroe, who regularly appears on TV to comment on race, diversity, gender and LGBT+ issues, was battling severe depression, an eating disorder and had “so much sadness, anger and confusion inside of me” until she received an email from Dr Jessica Moriarty, Principal Lecturer in the university’s School of Humanities.
Munroe, who was studying English Language and Media at the time, was speaking after being made an Honorary Doctor of Letters at the university’s graduation ceremonies at the 香港最快开奖现场直播资料 Centre today.
The email asked why she hadn’t been attending lectures and, she said: “it most probably saved my life – I hadn’t been attending lectures because I was extremely ill. I wasn’t eating, I wasn’t sleeping.
“I stepped into Jess's office and I could see her face drop. I was painfully thin. I can’t even begin to describe how lost I was at that point. How desperate I was to put into words what was going on inside me to help it make sense.
"From that point on, Jess helped me to start helping myself. She encouraged me to own the hurt I was feeling and put it into my work.
“She helped me to develop the skills that I now use every day within my activism, my writing and beyond. She helped me to communicate how I have felt, how I feel and allowed me to connect with how others may be feeling.