Olivia Tellefsen, of Cornwall, New York was awarded the 2018 University Academic Excellence Award for her outstanding academic performance in Economics. Olivia entered the University of Rhode Island in September of 2014. She began her college career as a double major in Secondary Education and Mathematics. After finishing her first year of college, she discovered her interest in Economics and decided to pursue this as her major. Due to her varying interests in different academic fields, she was also encouraged to pursue minors. She graduated May of 2018 with an Economics B.S. Theory and Methods degree and a double minor in Mathematics and Business.

During her years at college, Olivia was fortunate enough to apply her classroom knowledge in her internships. As a junior, Olivia interned in the Operations Department of Centreville Bank as a Junior Business Analyst. There, she worked with the team on various office operations. In her senior year, Olivia interned for the Rhode Island Small Business Development Center. At this internship, she got to work closely with business counselors located throughout the state where she could join in on client meetings and assist the counselors in meeting the needs of clients running small businesses and start-up entrepreneurs.

She is currently pursuing career opportunities in her home state of New York.