Akshita Verma is an economics alumni. She recently just graduated from UW and this fall will be pursuing a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Toronto. She was also previously the co-president of the UW Economics Society.
Q: Why did you choose to study Economics?
A: Ever since high school, I had an interest in learning about different aspects of the economy and what dictates individual behaviour. I took a few economics courses in high school and that’s when I knew I wanted to pursue economics.
Q: What was your favourite economics course at Waterloo? Why?
A: I really enjoyed ECON 351 and ECON 406. ECON 351 is labour economics and teaches you what influences labour supply and demand, and how an increase in wage comes into play. ECON 406 (Money and Banking) was also super cool because you learn about the Bank of Canada’s overnight interest rate and how it influences banking. The course also talks about cryptocurrency, which is very cool to learn about considering I had no prior knowledge about it’s intricacies!
Q: What did you decide to do after graduation?
A: After recently graduating this June, I am pursuing a Masters in Public Policy from the University of Toronto starting this fall. My goal is to eventually work with the federal government or global organizations such as the UN or IMF.
Q: What was the best part about being involved with the Economics Society?
A: For me, working with the Economics Society was a personal milestone throughout my undergrad career as it helped me work on my teamwork and leadership skills. The best part about working with the society was the power to build a long lasting network which will help you with great advice on what courses to take, resume critique/interview skills, and just general professional advice which goes a long way!
Q: Do you have any special or interesting talents?
A: Apart from being fluent in English and Hindi, I am also ‘decently’ fluent in German! I will definitely need to brush up on those skills again as it’s been a few years LOL.
Q: What would be the best piece of advice you would give students?
A: Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and build connections – it is people you meet through classes, events and co-ops that will give you great advice and might even help you land your next job opportunity! So network, network and network!
Also don’t be afraid to learn new coding languages while also learning the ones they teach in econometrics – they make you marketable for so many opportunities!