My name is Rebecca Young and I graduated with a Honours B.A. in Economics with a Minor in Finance from McMaster University in 2014.  Although I didn't start in the Economics program, it was an easy switch after my first year as I was drawn to the available research projects and how involved I could be as a student.  I personally believe that the Economics program teaches everyone valuable skills to make sense of our economy today and how it impacts virtually everything else in our lives.  Another example of this is when I started investing in real estate in 2011 while completing my education at McMaster.  Through studying monetary policy, I was better able to evaluate potential risks and opportunities in the market when forming my real estate investment strategy.  I believe I learned valuable theories and methodologies that were key to my success in my investments.

 Furthermore, through engaging in employment opportunities through the department I was able to hold numerous research and teaching assistant positions that undoubtedly accelerated my career path after I graduated.  This is where I learned to code and that opened up a career path in Data Science for myself.  I've been fortunate to hold Business Intelligence positions at Bell Canada, a Data Scientist position at IBM and currently a position as a Cloud Solution Architect focusing on Data and AI at Microsoft.  Unlike many of my peers, I also came equipped with the knowledge of the business value behind the work that we were doing.  I believe this was a strong differentiator as I've worked with brilliant technical minds that often struggled with articulating the business value behind our projects.  Again, Economics comes into play as all industries are impacted by Economic changes and this program helps you see the big picture and how everything is connected.  This skill set is a major asset in building credibility with your network.

 Ultimately, I really enjoyed my time at McMaster, the experiences that I acquired and relationships that I built there.  I would highly recommend my past program in particular as I believe the lessons learned are applicable in countless roles, industries and even other areas of your lives.  I felt prepared for my next steps after graduating and that was certainly worth the investment for me.