Sophie Camplejohn, Grade 11
UWC Pearson
Before I came to Pearson College UWC, economics was a blank page, just a fancy and more complicated way to say 'money'. Sure, I knew what people were talking about when they used the word 'economy' in a sentence, but I hardly knew anything outside of that. I had never studied the subject before. I knew so little about economics; I could not even tell if I was interested in it, or not. Funnily enough, that itself did make me interested in it. Originally, I had signed up for Global Politics as I felt what a lucky opportunity to study such a class with students from all over the world - really, a once and a lifetime experience. Yet, when it came to the 'meet the teachers' - I instantly took a liking to Julia Clark, one of the economics teachers on campus (as well as the Dean of students). She is one of those teachers whose passion for the subject she teaches seeps through in her animated facial expressions and hand motions. Even while knowing nothing about economics, and whether the subject itself interested me or not, I knew I was hooked. So, I switched to economics before even trying to attend one global politics class.
I was nervous during the first class. A couple of my peers and I walked in, up the daunting Max Bell stairs to room 101, where papers were taped over the walls, and a giant box with eight locks on it was. At first, I thought I might have stepped into the wrong class. I mean, what do locks have to do with economics? But, either way, I was excited. Problem-solving of any kind is my guilty pleasure. Sherlock is my favorite fictional character of all time, after all. Our teacher noticed our baffled expressions and quickly explained the purpose of the box. It was a first-day-of-economics-class tradition - to use the clues plastered (some hidden) around the room to solve the lock codes together. Now, I was really excited.
When it comes to group activities, I am usually one who jumps into a leadership role or is not afraid to speak up. However, on many of the clues, I was little to no help on, and I just watched in shock as my classmates quickly jumped to answer the inflation rates in China, or the real GDP of Canada. I had heard both those terms, but they were practically foreign in my vocabulary. I felt embarrassed, and as if I was a benighted person. Everyone around me treated this knowledge as if it was as simple as the ABCs. Some of them just started learning English a couple of years, months, or even weeks ago, and still knew what the clues were talking about. So, I acted very uncharacteristically of me - mostly staying off to the side, just watching in silence. Many of my classmates worked hard to involve me, which will always be a sweet memory of mine and a start to a few new friendships. Despite my embarrassment, I was having lots of fun; I was on the edge of my seat and dying to know what could be stored away in the box.
After almost an hour of slowly cracking the codes, and the class coming toward an end, we finally unlocked the last bolt. I think Julia may have given us a hint or two. So, we all scrambled to open the box with anticipation, only to find…papers. Turns out, the activity wasn't to open the box at all. Essentially, a class bonding experience on economics in the shape of a riddle. The papers were surveys she wanted us to take on our previous knowledge of economics and our interests in the subject. I answered that 'I want to be proven wrong on my misconception that economics is just dealing with money.' It was the first time in a long time that I was so happy to be confused. I had no idea what happened during 80% of that class, and I was wildly curious.
As the class ended, she handed us a fairly thick packet of papers, roughly ten pages, and asked us to read it all by the next class. Many students groaned. I won't lie, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it, as I still perceived economics much more on the 'science' side of social science. But, once again, I was aghast by the homework as well.
As soon as class ended that day, I headed to the Common Room, one of my favorite buildings on campus, and started reading. It was the first chapter of Economics: A User's Guide by Ha-Joon Chang, conveniently titled 'What is Economics?' Despite it being ten pages long, I read every page with bursting enthusiasm. It blew my mind. I had been so very wrong about what economics was. According to the reading, Economics is the study of rational human choice. 'What? What about money?' I thought. That definition of economics made it sound like a psychology course. I kept reading. It explained that 'money is a symbol of what others in society owe you, or your claim on particular amounts of the society's resources'. But, even then, this version of economics was exactly that - just an area of economics (financial economics) - not the whole shebang. The reading even argued that economics is the study of everything, and was so closely knit to politics that it is impossible to decipher between the two. As I finished reading it, I neatly tucked it away in my bag, already excited for my next class, where we would discuss our thoughts on it. Then, I just sat there to process what I had just learned. It made me feel like I had unlocked a whole new aspect of the universe that had been closed off prior.
Today, it is arguably my favorite subject I take. I distinctly remember each economics class that blew my mind. Not only is my teacher, Julia Clark, one of my favorite people on campus, as a teacher and as the dean of students, but, I simply fell in love with economics. As I stated earlier, I used to think economics was just the study of money, and I am someone whose idea of success isn't measured by money in any means, but rather by happiness. So, initially, the concept of economics seemed irrelevant to my interests, but, now I know, in some ways, economics is the study of happiness.
I was nervous during the first class. A couple of my peers and I walked in, up the daunting Max Bell stairs to room 101, where papers were taped over the walls, and a giant box with eight locks on it was. At first, I thought I might have stepped into the wrong class. I mean, what do locks have to do with economics? But, either way, I was excited. Problem-solving of any kind is my guilty pleasure. Sherlock is my favorite fictional character of all time, after all. Our teacher noticed our baffled expressions and quickly explained the purpose of the box. It was a first-day-of-economics-class tradition - to use the clues plastered (some hidden) around the room to solve the lock codes together. Now, I was really excited.
When it comes to group activities, I am usually one who jumps into a leadership role or is not afraid to speak up. However, on many of the clues, I was little to no help on, and I just watched in shock as my classmates quickly jumped to answer the inflation rates in China, or the real GDP of Canada. I had heard both those terms, but they were practically foreign in my vocabulary. I felt embarrassed, and as if I was a benighted person. Everyone around me treated this knowledge as if it was as simple as the ABCs. Some of them just started learning English a couple of years, months, or even weeks ago, and still knew what the clues were talking about. So, I acted very uncharacteristically of me - mostly staying off to the side, just watching in silence. Many of my classmates worked hard to involve me, which will always be a sweet memory of mine and a start to a few new friendships. Despite my embarrassment, I was having lots of fun; I was on the edge of my seat and dying to know what could be stored away in the box.
After almost an hour of slowly cracking the codes, and the class coming toward an end, we finally unlocked the last bolt. I think Julia may have given us a hint or two. So, we all scrambled to open the box with anticipation, only to find…papers. Turns out, the activity wasn't to open the box at all. Essentially, a class bonding experience on economics in the shape of a riddle. The papers were surveys she wanted us to take on our previous knowledge of economics and our interests in the subject. I answered that 'I want to be proven wrong on my misconception that economics is just dealing with money.' It was the first time in a long time that I was so happy to be confused. I had no idea what happened during 80% of that class, and I was wildly curious.
As the class ended, she handed us a fairly thick packet of papers, roughly ten pages, and asked us to read it all by the next class. Many students groaned. I won't lie, I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it, as I still perceived economics much more on the 'science' side of social science. But, once again, I was aghast by the homework as well.
As soon as class ended that day, I headed to the Common Room, one of my favorite buildings on campus, and started reading. It was the first chapter of Economics: A User's Guide by Ha-Joon Chang, conveniently titled 'What is Economics?' Despite it being ten pages long, I read every page with bursting enthusiasm. It blew my mind. I had been so very wrong about what economics was. According to the reading, Economics is the study of rational human choice. 'What? What about money?' I thought. That definition of economics made it sound like a psychology course. I kept reading. It explained that 'money is a symbol of what others in society owe you, or your claim on particular amounts of the society's resources'. But, even then, this version of economics was exactly that - just an area of economics (financial economics) - not the whole shebang. The reading even argued that economics is the study of everything, and was so closely knit to politics that it is impossible to decipher between the two. As I finished reading it, I neatly tucked it away in my bag, already excited for my next class, where we would discuss our thoughts on it. Then, I just sat there to process what I had just learned. It made me feel like I had unlocked a whole new aspect of the universe that had been closed off prior.
Today, it is arguably my favorite subject I take. I distinctly remember each economics class that blew my mind. Not only is my teacher, Julia Clark, one of my favorite people on campus, as a teacher and as the dean of students, but, I simply fell in love with economics. As I stated earlier, I used to think economics was just the study of money, and I am someone whose idea of success isn't measured by money in any means, but rather by happiness. So, initially, the concept of economics seemed irrelevant to my interests, but, now I know, in some ways, economics is the study of happiness.
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