Hola chicos,
With the holidays around the corner, I am realizing how long it’s been since I’ve seen my family and how excited I am to see everyone again. However, I am not particularly looking forward to explaining to everyone all the details of what has been going on in my life recently. I don’t want to sound selfish and I appreciate my family and knowing they care about what I do, but it’s slightly irritating to repeat the same story again and again. What really bothers me is when people ask, “Why do you study economics?” I’ve come to realize that many people don’t understand what economics is or why someone would major in it. I’ve decided to write about why I choose to study economics at UW-Stevens Point and what it means to me to be an economics major.
1. I Enjoy It
I honestly enjoy studying economics, and why someone would choose to study something they don’t enjoy just doesn’t make sense to me. Economics is basically the study of making choices and investigating human behavior. The world has a finite number of resources and humans have basically unlimited wants; economics looks at how humans deal with the dilemma. I know most people think that economics is all business, money, stocks and numbers–which is definitely a part of it–but really it means so much more than that. There are many subtopics of economics and even if I don’t enjoy all of them, I like enough of them to overall enjoy the discipline.
2. It Makes Sense For Me
When I was a freshman in college I realized that I wanted to study some type of business degree to pair up with studying Spanish, but I wasn’t sure exactly what. After I investigated business administration, accounting and economics it became clear that economics was the right choice for me. I felt it was a specific enough topic area but not too focused. I want to have a diverse selection of job opportunities available to me in the future and I didn’t want my degree to limit what I would be qualified for.
3. Benefits
It may sound shallow, but I like money. I like being able to support myself and do what I want without having to worry all the time about how much everything costs. Economics is one of the highest paying majors on average. Aside from the pay, I hope to be able to travel and ideally have a job with opportunities for travel. Studying economics will hopefully help me fulfill both of these goals.
4. A Better Understanding Of the World
Through economics I have gained an understanding and worldview that I never had before college. I see how the world works in regards to firms and industries, governments and individual’s choices. I have learned to see all sides of problem and see unintended consequences. I have also gained a wealth of skills I can use in my personal life like how to read economics indicators, competition on a global scale and a variety of personal finance skills. I understand how to live and work in a interdependent global economy. Even if I never get a job in economics, I know what I have learned while studying economics will not go to waste.
I feel like there is more that I just can’t put into words, but there you have it. I feel happy with my choices regarding what majors to study, and I really hope that everyone can feel the same. I know it’s hard to pick what you want to study and work with for in theory the rest of your life, but still it’s something that just kind of has to be done in the world we live in today. I’d say no matter what you’re thinking about studying, choose something you love … or choose economics because I love it ; ) haha
Hasta Luego,
Alexia
Alexia Szabo is a senior majoring in economics, Spanish and international studies at UW-Stevens Point.