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Combining academic excellence and volunteer service: Economics undergrad Jocelyn Vissia makes an impact
Undergraduate student Jocelyn Vissia made the most of her time at 大象传媒 by pursuing a major, a minor, and a concentration, completing three successful co-op terms and taking on volunteer leadership roles in her community.
Vissia did not set out to study economics. She was a strong math and science student who intended to study medicine.
However, when using her electives to explore other areas of study, she accidentally fell upon microeconomics. The Prisoner鈥檚 Dilemma captured her interest immediately. This game theory scenario shows how two individuals acting in their own self-interest end up worse off than if they had cooperated.
鈥淲hy people do what they do has always been an interest of mine,鈥� Vissia explains. 鈥淓conomics was able to explain this using patterns and theories.鈥�
鈥淲hy people do what they do has always been an interest of mine...Economics was able to explain this using patterns and theories.鈥�
When she took an econometrics course she knew she had found her major. 鈥淚 discovered that I love working with data when it applies to real world scenarios,鈥� Vissia says. 鈥淓conometrics grounds these concepts and theories with real world data,鈥� she says. The data can be anything, from birth rates to gender wage disparity, and analyzing it is a powerful tool for studying the effectiveness of policies.
Discovering a love for data 鈥渄efinitely changed my career goals,鈥� Vissia says, and she added a Concentration in Economic Data Analysis to her major.
Vissia complemented her economics major with a minor in philosophy. 鈥淓conomic models always have some kind of assumption,鈥� she says. 鈥淧hilosophy is the background understanding of where these assumptions come from.鈥�
In addition to her academic work, Vissia dedicated significant time to volunteering with Rotary International, a large organization with volunteers who work locally, regionally and internationally to improve the quality of life of individuals.
She was president of a local Rotaract Club where she chaired meetings, organized new volunteer and social events, and engaged members. She also co-chaired the membership board which provides resources to clubs in BC to help them attract and retain members.
One highlight was presenting in front of Burnaby mayor Mike Hurley, who was impressed with her presentation and offered future support for the club.
鈥淢y volunteer work helped me with my soft skills, giving me more confidence in my ability to communicate,鈥� Vissia says. 鈥淚 feel comfortable in situations, like giving presentations, that used to terrify me.鈥� She recommends that students get involved in extracurricular activities and push themselves out of their comfort zones.
Vissia developed further skills during two co-op work experiences. She spent eight months at Trulioo as a Business Analyst Intern, where she conducted stakeholder analysis and refined customer health metrics 鈥攅nabling client teams to better monitor user engagement and retention trends.
She also completed a four-month internship at Olympic Industries ULC as a Quantitative Analyst Intern, where she built and evaluated predictive models of commodity markets, uncovering key patterns in economic indicators and price behaviours to support future market forecasting.
鈥淭he top skill I developed through my economics degree is analytical thinking 鈥� especially the ability to take complex information, break it into patterns, and use data to understand behavior or make better decisions."
鈥淭he top skill I developed through my economics degree is analytical thinking 鈥� especially the ability to take complex information, break it into patterns, and use data to understand behavior or make better decisions,鈥� Vissia says.
Currently, Vissia is in the early stages of building a freelance business focused on helping small businesses use ads and analytics to grow more effectively. She says, 鈥淲hat I love most about this path is the freedom to experiment and directly see the impact of my work 鈥� when data-driven decisions translate into real outcomes.鈥�
