Final Reflection - Andrew

Andrew's Final Reflection.

        I'll start off by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed this J-Term. We learned a huge amount, and the course was very information dense, but I think we all had a lot of fun. Our learning seemed to be very effective due to the fact that we covered items from so many different perspectives. By creating our own presentations, listening to presentations, watching movies, playing financial games, paper trading, reading books, seminaring, engaging with presenters from a multitude of backgrounds, and taking real estate field trips, we got our information from about as many angles as possible. 

       In relation to our initial presentations, some of our topics were quite complex, so in order to give an adequate presentation to the class, we had to put more effort into learning these economic related concepts more thoroughly than we would have just by listening to a lecture. When other students would present, we had the benefit of them uncovering the information and translating it into more digestible terms. We watched some really incredible movies, mostly based on historical economic crashes and events, but they gave an important perspective into a time that most of us don't remember clearly, and should be important in the coming months. One of my favorite parts of the course was the Life Game that we played, which involved a large spreadsheet with all of our individual future (hypothetical) schools, expenses, and income. We mapped out our investments, jobs, schools, etc. and eventually rolled dice to simulate 'unexpected' life events, which altered our final outcome. We also got hypothetical net worths by year; Some of us were in debt for much of our life, and others were millionaires that retired early. Of course, this isn't necessarily what will occur, but it will give us a good guideline for our life planning. We also took part in paper trading, which most of us lost money on (which could be partially blamed on the fact the we began during the peak of a small rally, and the market was mostly negative recently), but it gave us great first hand insights into the risks (and rewards) of the stock market. 

       Although we did take part in many creative activities, we did also read books and seminar. The reading was a bit heavy and certain books covered the same information one, two, and sometimes three times, in combination with our learning outside of the texts, but many parts of the books provided crucial information for our financial present and future. In a later course, I would suggest that we have one less book (perhaps removing the personal finance for dummies), and focus more on seminaring for the other two. It can be difficult as financial subjects are largely fact-related, but some topics might be benefited by more philosophical discussion. We did stay in school for much of the time, but we did get a chance to visit an actual real estate property and see the workings of this sort of career. Getting beyond the textbook and classroom was really helpful, and I believe that our knowledge will be better applied later in life with this experience. The presenters we had gave incredible insight to working and living (in economic terms), with a focus on real estate careers. Real estate investment is a realistic interest of mine, so the presentations were especially beneficial to me. I learned that I also have an interest in finance and others types of investments, more than I thought in the past. The presenters were probably the best part of the course–– every one was incredible. 

       My way of thinking really has shifted over the past weeks, but not in the way that I anticipated. Money related desires have always been explained to me in materialistic terms, but the technical side of money making, investing, saving, etc. can be a fun process, which if planned correctly, will optimize your happiness. I don't have any less desire to make money and be 'successful', per say, but this course has made the path a lot less intimidating, and has lowered the intensity of what I should be stressing about. The challenge for my future is to find my individual 'enough' (financially), and connect more to what I enjoy while avoiding financial struggle.