School of Social Sciences

Class of 2015
Degree: BSocSc major in Sociology and Public Policy & Public Management

Graduate Trainee
UBS AG

Please tell us more about where you are currently working at and what you are doing.

I am currently working as a graduate trainee in the Human Resources Division of UBS AG, a Swiss multinational bank. The graduate trainee program is a rotation-based one, which means that we get to experience different roles within the division we join. Right now I am attached to the Payroll team, and I am handling the payroll of four emerging markets in which our bank operates. My next rotation will be in the Advisory team.

What made you choose to do a degree in Social Sciences and why did you choose to do it in SMU?

I have always been interested in history, sociology, politics and philosophy. I get a personal high when I engage in such conversations with my friends. I guess it was only natural for me to join the School of Social Sciences.

My sister had studied Economics and Information Systems in SMU. She had loved her four years here and so she strongly recommended SMU. The small classroom size, focus on class discussions, the independent expression of ideas, and the exciting student life greatly resonated with who I am as a person, and that’s why I chose to come here. Looking back at my four years, I would not have had it any other way.

How has the SOSS experience been for you, and how has it benefitted you?

I don’t think I’ll ever find the right words to describe my four years in SOSS. They were nothing short of amazing, invigorating and exciting. I was exposed to a wide variety of ideas, theories and paradigms that I would probably never have come across, had I not joined this school. The SOSS journey expands your thinking and reasoning in more ways than you can imagine. The stimulating classroom discussions expose you to multiple opinions, and hence, make you more critical, engaged and cautious. The world we are living in today requires us to have a better and more holistic understanding of our surroundings. And I am glad that the SOSS experience in SMU gives us just that.

I really miss the conversations I had with a lot of my professors and classmates. That’s why I have started a ‘Thinker’s Circle’ with some of my friends. We meet once every month to discuss social, political and economic issues from a moral standpoint. You can take me out of SOSS, but you can’t take SOSS out of me.

Do you have any advice for your juniors that are currently in SOSS or for those who are planning to join the SOSS family?

Everyone who is still in SOSS – consider this an opportunity of privilege. When you’re on the threshold of graduation ready to face the world outside, you will look back and thank yourself for the past four years. Engage in a lot of conversations. There is nothing more intellectually and spiritually erotic than good conversation.

Don’t view this as merely an academic journey. The papers will be turned in, the exams will be written and the grades will be secured. What will remain are the memories, the conversations, and obviously the relationships with your professors and friends.

Those planning to join the school – You’re on the right path. Don’t hesitate. Take the plunge in life.