As a new academic year begins, we reflect and celebrate the successes of our recent graduates.
At this year’s graduation reception, we had the pleasure of reconnecting with some of our alumni. They shared their reflections on their time at Bristol and gave us an insight into their exciting future plans.
Q: If you could go back to your first day at Bristol, what advice would tell your first-year self?
Govind Rao, BSc Economics and Finance, shared: “Go to lots of office hours. All the staff are really helpful, there aren’t any stupid questions. Ask them! You’ll will always learn more by asking than staying silent.”
Mia Tikvicki-Lee, BSc Economics, said: “Even if you are introverted, try to say hello and get to know new people. It’s important to build a community.”
Phoebe Worsley, BSc Economics and Philosophy, advised: “Make an active effort to make friends on your course, it really benefited me to have someone to talk to about coursework and future careers plans.”
Q: What are your future career plans?
Matthew Gibson, BSc Economics and Politics, explained: “I’ve always been interested in understanding how the world works, how we build governments and how systems operate. Economics and politics give you a big insight into that. I have a job at KPMG and plan to gain a chartered accountancy qualification. Just having ‘economics’ in your degree really opens opportunities.”
Emily Tilford-Carey, BSc Economics and Politics, shared: “I’m studying an MSc in Economics at Bristol and hoping to join the Bank of England over the summer on their economist programme.” Emily added: “I’m really proud to be here as I received a contextual offer and am the first person in my family to come to university.”
Q. What’s the best thing about studying economics in Bristol?
Yannis Cheung, BSc Economics and Finance, shared: “It’s not just the students but also the professors. The people that I have met, these are the type of people that I need in my life to continue to push me to reach my full potential.”
Viktoria Leins, BSc Economics and Econometrics, said: “The best thing was the amazing staff, I loved the small group tutorials, it was always fun to go to university.”
Govind added: “It’s the links that you can create between economic theory and what we do in our everyday lives. I didn’t realise that there was such a large connection between economic theory and our experience as human beings.”
Prize winning achievements
The graduation ceremony also recognised the outstanding achievements of our graduates through a prize-giving event. Deputy Head of School, Prof. Arpad Abraham, Alumni Engagement Manager, Imogene Halsey-Dudley, and Dr Andrew Sheng, Economics alumnus and distinguished Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong, presented the following awards:
The Deaton Prize
Named in honour of Professor Angus Deaton, who won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Economics, this award recognises outstanding research. This year’s recipient, Emily MacKinnon, BSc Economics and Finance, was awarded the Deaton prize for her extended piece of research on the impact of additional children on labour market outcomes among married U.S. women.
Outstanding Performance by an Economics Student
This award celebrates consistent academic excellence and outstanding contributions to the School of Economics. The 2024 recipients are Viktoria Leins, BSc Economics and Econometrics and Phoebe Worsley, BSc Economics and Philosophy.
Phoebe said: “I was really proud to win this as a joint honours student, it shows how far I’ve come and how far Bristol has helped me to develop as an economist.”
A bright future for Economics graduates
Reflecting on our graduates’ achievements and their future prospects, Andrew Sheng explained: “The future is very bright for all Bristol graduates. An economics graduate opens doors because they are equipped with analytical skills that are crucial for making important decisions in our world. The skills that they are taught at Bristol will serve not just themselves, but their country very well.”
Watch the interview:
Congratulations to all our graduating students! Stay connected and share your future successes with us at alumni@bristol.ac.uk.