4 minute read
Earlier this year, when Anissa Mashor moved to Canberra to study at The Australian National University (ANU), she found herself “naturally video calling” her family in Klang, Malaysia.
She didn’t imagine that this daily routine would facilitate her learning experience, as her classes moved online.
“Using Zoom for my lectures is similar to using Skype to chat with family. I didn’t find the transition to remote learning difficult. In fact, a lot of my classmates also have a similar familiarity with these kinds of tools. This helped make switching to studying and completing group projects virtually a smooth process,” shares Anissa, who is studying a Master of Business Information System at the ANU College of Business and Economics (CBE). She is also the recipient of the prestigious Malaysian scholarship Majlis Amanah Rakyat.
Before moving to Canberra, Anissa worked as a Senior Analyst at South-East Asia’s leading e-commerce platform, Lazada Group. This role required her to plan and manage campaigns that supported the organisation’s business strategy.
What encouraged me to study at CBE was the opportunities it offered that would enable me to gain industrial knowledge, as well as enhance my personal and professional development.
“I worked with stakeholders such as graphic designers and marketing and customer relationship management teams to effectively coordinate campaigns. I was able to drive awareness, engagement and sales for marketplace sellers and brands. After the completion of each campaign, I analysed their performance data and provided insights, key learnings, and recommendations on how to make improvements in the future,” she explains.
This extensive involvement with data and business strategy encouraged Anissa to pursue both academically.
“In my previous role, I dealt a lot with data and was required to make sense of it to do my job. Following this experience, it seemed an opportune time to research data analytics at university. What encouraged me to study at CBE was the opportunities it offered that would enable me to gain industrial knowledge, as well as enhance my personal and professional development,” she says.
Recalling her university experience, even before moving to Canberra, Anissa remembers the support she received from various ANU departments that helped her move.
“The Admissions Office assisted me with my registration, while ANU Accommodation Services were instrumental in my pre-departure days. Prior to my arrival, I also had the opportunity to meet a Malaysian postgraduate student from ANU who was in Kuala Lumpur for her semester break. When I met her, she provided me great clarity and guidance regarding some of my concerns, ranging from buying groceries to doing banking,” Anissa shares.
The ANU College of Business and Economics offers an extensive range of specialised programs. Click here for more details.
Image: Nurhanim Hassan