Watershed Classes

In many academic programs there is a class that acts as a watershed moment. This class essentially determines whether or not you have what it takes to continue on your path. Most economics majors will tell you that the class that functions as the greatest test (and weeds out a lot of students) is the introductory class in econometrics. Indeed, it was this class that tested my interest in the field yet it has also been the one to best serve me as I have moved to specialize heavily in transportation.

A piece of advice I feel I received too late from one of my advisors at Chatham University was to hold on to the textbooks I used for my core or major classes. I hope others found use in my elementary micro- and macro- economics textbooks because I wish I had them now. Though I am glad it came in time for me to hold onto my econometrics book. Today, as I near the end of my academic career as a student, I just really wanted to see where it started.

I struggled through econometrics (at Chatham I think it was ECN 301). Frankly, it did almost run me out of the program screaming—though knowing how upset my dad would be if I called him and said I was falling back on my political science major and history minor, I figured it was best to stick it out. I got a B in the class and for as much perspiration I put into it, I think the professor, Dr. Charlotte Lott, went ten times further to help me than anyone would have expected her to.

Paging through it, I can’t believe it was such a challenge. It seems so simple. Now, I use regression analysis every day. If I am not measuring something, I’m reading and evaluating material that utilizes it. The class changed how I thought about my major and made my degree feel just a little more earned, even if it was a source of stress, late nights, and some serious cussing. The textbook once felt like an object of torture, now it’s like visiting an old friend.