Economics (BA)

[Instrumental music starts and plays in background softly.]

Text on screen: Webster Geneva Campus logo, Alumni Testimonials

[Webster Geneva Campus, trees and city from the air.]

Text on screen: Simran Kaur Bansal

[Bansal sits inside at the Webster Geneva Campus at a table near lighted windows with foliage outside.]

Bansal: My name is Simran. I am an alumnus of Webster Geneva Campus, and I was here from 2019 to 2021. I graduated with a double major in Economics and Business.

Text on screen: How Webster helped you build your career?

[Webster Geneva Campus buildings in the background.]

Bansal: For me, Webster helped a lot in the sense that it provided all the basics I needed to know and even more. Since professors come from so many different backgrounds, and most of them work at the same time as being professors, they’re up to date on everything we need to know. It was really good having live, relevant information, and that really helped push me to where I am today.

Text on screen: What was your most memorable experience?

Bansal: Well, we started with COVID — I guess that would be the most memorable experience, but not in a bad way. It helped a lot of us. Being by yourself, learning by yourself, and so having the courage to ask. Because maybe sometimes in a classroom, you just wait for someone else to ask because you might be too shy, but during COVID, you had to go out on your own and become more independent. It was a learning curve, and I think it helped a lot of us, regardless of what happened.

Text on screen: How was your journey after graduation?

Bansal: So, I finished Webster in 2021, and then joined a master’s degree (program) at the University of Geneva in commodity trading. I did that for a year, and once I finished with that, I started working at TOTSA, which is the trading branch of Total Energies, here in Geneva, as well. I’m currently a trading operator there. The basis of my job is quite simple when you look at it on paper — it’s just bringing like cargo from point A to point B. But as a trading operator, you’re the ones who are in charge of talking with traders, credit, with finance, and basically all these different counterparts to make sure that one voyage goes well, from A to Z. So, we’re problem solvers because nothing ever goes as planned, but mainly on paper it’s quite nice. And to be honest. in real life it’s quite amazing if you enjoy solving issues.

Text on screen: What advice would you give to students?

Bansal: My advice is going to be very cheesy, but I’ll say: never give up. That’s not a joke, because you will have so many obstacles in front of you, and if you give up at the first one, you will never know what’s there at the end. I had my fair share of it, and I’m happy I was with people who pushed me to go forward. That’s how I got to where I was. So yes, it’s very cheesy to say “never give up,” but you need to try. And as long as you have not tried, you’ll never know. So, even if you think there’s a 90% chance you’ll fail, just try — you never know.

Text on screen: What do you feel to be back on campus today?

Bansal: Yeh, so I had lunch in the cafeteria for the first time. I never got the opportunity during COVID because it was shut. It’s a beautiful campus, and I kinda regret not being able to, you know, take part of it, or being here more often. But I’m always happy to be here.

Text on screen: Webster Geneva Campus logo

[Instrumental music swells and ends.]