Student Highlight Interviews

What influenced your decision to choose your major?

• "I was very fortunate to have an economist as my AP
  economics teacher during senior year of high school.
  His passion and erudition had a lot of influence on my
  decision to pursue economics in college. I fell in love
  with the applicable and versatile nature of economics
  and appreciated having a newfound vocabulary to
  explain the world around me."

Are you involved in any campus activities? If so, why did you choose to get involved?

• "For the past year and a half, I’ve been involved in the
  Economics Student Association. I first joined as a
  member in Spring 2021, then became outreach chair in
  Fall 2021 and vice president in Spring 2022. Starting
  college during the pandemic made it difficult for me to
  socialize with my classmates. I found myself longing
  for a community of like-minded peers and decided to
  get involved with ESA."

What difficulties or challenges have you faced choosing this major? How did you overcome them?

• "One of the biggest challenges I have faced as an
  economics major is finding a sense of direction with
  my career. Economics is such a broad subject, which
  makes it difficult when trying to decide on a specific
  career path. I realized early on that one way to
  overcome this uncertainty is to talk to my professors
  and seek out as much information as I could on the
  available jobs out there for economics majors. Going to
  office hours every semester to talk with professors
  about prospective careers has been extremely effective
  at reducing the uncertainty."

What advice would you like to share with your peers?

• "Leap out of your comfort zone, stay there, and leap
  again. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned throughout
  my time at CSULB, it is that progress and growth often
  happens when we push ourselves past what we believe
  we’re capable of. Also, always remember to persevere
  in the face of adversity. Life loves to catch us off guard
  but the ability to remain resilient is essential to
  overcoming these challenges."

Have you thought about plans for after graduation? If so, please share.

• "This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity of
  interning at a real estate research and consulting firm.
  During the internship, I was able to apply the economic
  knowledge that I have learned in school to the real
  world. I achieved more than what I thought was
  possible, and I was constantly surrounded by
  passionate and knowledgeable team members. I
  currently work part-time at the company as a research
  analyst and desire greatly to remain in this position
  after graduation."

Is there anything that you'd like to highlight about yourself or the Department of Economics to others?

• "I owe the wonderful experiences I’ve had at CSULB
  thus far to the professors and peers that I’ve had the
  opportunity to learn from. Upon entering college, I
  was immediately met with unmatched kindness and
  support from everyone in the Department of
  Economics. The wisdom I’ve gained and advice I
  have been given has immensely impacted my life in
  the best way possible."

What influenced your decision to choose your major?

• "My high school econ teacher played a big role in
  helping me enjoy and understand economics.
  From that point forward I fell in love with it and
  knew it was something I wanted to continue to
  pursue."

What is something you can share about your experience in economics?

• "I just transferred but so far I have had a really
  good experience with economics. It can be
  difficult to understand at times but the
  challenge of it is what I like the most. It is
  rewarding when I am finally able to understand
  a concept."

What difficulties or challenges have you faced choosing this major? How did you overcome them?

• "I didn’t have many difficulties choosing this
  major. I knew I enjoyed econ and wanted to
  learn more about it so it was a no brainer
  decision. Most of my challenges come from the
  classes itself and their contents. It can be hard
  to grasp at times but studying and asking for
  help are my go to ways to figure it out."

What advice would you like to share with your peers?

• "My advice is to always try your best even if your
  best is only 50%. It can get stressful at times but
  you have to do what works for you and
  prioritize your mental and physical health.
  Everything will fall into place one way or
  another."

How do you feel about your overall college experience?

• "My college experience hasn’t been exactly
  conventional due various reasons but I wouldn’t
  change it. I have enjoyed all of my classes and
  have made new friends along the way. While it
  is stressful it has all been worth it."

Is there anything that you'd like to highlight about yourself or the Department of Economics to others?

• "I have had nothing but positive experiences
  with everyone in the department of
  economics. They are always there to help."

What influenced your decision to choose your major?

• "When I was studying for my AP Microeconomics and
  Macroeconomics exams during the peak of Covid-19, I
  found myself really enjoying re-teaching myself and
  reviewing the material. It came very naturally to me
  and I easily spent hours just learning, I haven't ever
  truly felt a passion like that for an academic subject.
  While I have always liked school, cared deeply about it
  and did quite well for the most part, I've never really
  resonated with a subject or a topic until that moment."

Are you involved in any campus activities? If so, why did you choose to get involved?

• "I am a member of CSULBVSA and I decided to get
  involved because I wanted to be a part of a community,
  especially one where I could meet other Vietnamese
  people, because as diverse as San Francisco (where I'm
  from) is, I didn't meet too many Vietnamese people or
  those whose lives were similar to mine. I also wanted
  to meet new people and make connections."

What difficulties or challenges have you faced choosing this major? How did you overcome them?

• "I don't think I have exactly faced any challenges
  choosing this major, other than potentially feeling a
  lack of connection with my peers in this major. I
  haven't exactly made much of an effort to connect with
  others or going to ESA meetings per se, though I have
  met a few people recently."

What advice would you like to share with your peers?

• "My advice would be to pace yourself and listen to your
  mind. Though this only works if you have self
  discipline to accomplish your tasks. I know that we all
  get overwhelmed and some days we don't feel like
  doing anything, and on those days, I listen to myself. If
  I have a lot to get done and can't afford a free day, then
  I will do the mundane and easy tasks. I never force
  myself to complete an assignment on a day where I am
  not feeling it, because I know my work will be subpar
  and it will only drain me further. I only work when I
  am in the proper mindset and this allows me to
  complete my work best."

Have you thought about plans for after graduation?

• "I have thought about taking an internship in the
  summer, hopefully that fosters into something
  longer than just that time period. Generally, I
  am looking to gain some experience in the
  working world then going back to school to get
  my Masters."

Is there anything that you'd like to highlight about yourself or the Department of Economics to others?

• "I currently have a 4.0 GPA, received the
  Powell Endowed Scholarship for Fall 2022,
  have an interview for a Summer 2023
  internship with Alphasights, and will be
  minoring in CS."

What influenced your decision to choose your major?

• "Over the summer I was volunteering at my local
  courthouse and struggling to figure out how to combine
  my two passions: the sciences and humanities. One of
  my peers suggested that I take some economics courses
  because she saw how much I cared about social issues
  and policy. I ended up double majoring in economics
  and international studies as a result."

Are you involved in any campus activities? If so, why did you choose to get involved?

• "I used to be super involved in campus activities at the beginning
  of my undergrad career. I was in the honors program, I competed
  in moot court across the country and then I was in student
  government for two years. Over the pandemic, my campus
  involvement shifted and I started getting more involved with my
  art community off campus. I also started a position at the student
  paper as the assistant opinions editor in my junior year. That
  really got me started on a journey in journalism that I didn't
  expect. In summer of 2021, I interned at the LA Times and then
  subsequently worked for NPR for 8 months. I had a really great
  time and I started freelancing for a number of different
  publications after. I've had bylines in the Washington Post, the
  Guardian, the LA Times and more."

What difficulties or challenges have you faced choosing this major? How did you overcome them?

• "Sometimes it's challenging to feel like there aren't as many
  women in this field as there are men. I think about that a lot,
  where there is generally an underrepresentation of women
  and people of color in economics. I don't think it's something
  that I personally can overcome on a systemic level, but I
  pride myself in scoring well in my classes and proving
  through my studies that I belong in every classroom I'm in."

What advice would you like to share with your peers?

• "I would say, it took me a long time to figure out my major. I'm in
  my last semester now, but I really took my time over the past four
  and a half years to figure out what I was passionate about. I went
  from a clarinet music performance major to a marine biology nerd
  who volunteered at CSULB's shark lab, to becoming a math major
  and ultimately a double major in economics and international
  studies. All along the way, I figured out what I loved which was
  writing and art and even though that's different from my studies, I
  think that ultimately, my degree has made me a more well rounded
  person. I would just encourage everyone who's trying to figure out
  what they are passionate about to really invest in themselves
  because ultimately college is about finding who you are and you'll
  never have a chance like this in life to continually reinvent yourself
  each year in school."

Have you thought about plans for after graduation?

• "I'm hoping to get a job in journalism and to work for a
  local or national publication after I graduate. I feel
  pretty good about my college experience, I think I
  explored every possible nook and cranny to find a path
  for myself and I'm proud of that. I'm really burnt out
  though. I worked full time and was a student full time
  in my senior year and I was really exhausting. I think
  that I'm going to also allow myself rest in the upcoming
  months and try not to push myself too hard."

Is there anything that you'd like to highlight about yourself or the Department of Economics to others?

• "The economics department is so tight knit and I feel like I
  was just beginning to tap into that community right as the
  pandemic hit. I regret not being able to get involved more
  while I was a student, like participating in the Economics
  Student Association events. I'm really grateful though that I
  was able to receive so much learning and knowledge in my
  time in this department. I know the analytical skills I gained
  will stay with me for life."

What influenced your decision to choose your major?

• When looking at "Economics", 'supply and demand'
  were the only words I could immediately recall when I
  was choosing my major in the application process. So I
  never had a full complete understanding in what
  Economics truly was. However, there was a small spark
  of interest when I learned about Economics my senior
  year of high-school and decided to take a small leap of
  faith. And it was the best decision I have ever made. I
  didn't realize how much of an interest I had with
  Economics. Where the major was broad enough where
  you have flexibility to carve what you want to do in
  the future, but not so specific and concentrated on one
  concept of study (i.e. Financial, Environmental, Data,
  & International).

Are you involved in any campus activities? If so, why did you choose to get involved?

• Currently, I am in the University Honors Program at
  CSULB and for my honors thesis project; I will be
  focusing on two areas of study: Economics and
  Computer Science. I am currently performing this
  research with Dr. Yutian Chen within the Economics
  Department. I chose this specific concentration to gain
  experience not only in performing research, but also
  experience within tying economic game-theory with
  reinforcement-learning.

What difficulties or challenges have you faced choosing this major? How did you overcome them?

• Some challenges I faced in choosing this major was
  deciding what specific areas of economics I wanted to
  pursue. I overcame this challenge through taking a
  variety of different (and what sounded interesting to
  me) economics courses to see which specific areas
  sparked my interest. I will never forget the moment
  sitting in Professor Herman Singh's Environmental
  Economics Class and hearing the words "Behavioral
  Economics" and what it meant. At that moment, I
  realized I was one step closer to deciding what I loved,
  what I am interested in, and wanted to pursue.
  Ultimately, on top of college, I also pursued various of
  circulars and explored outside of my bubble. This
  includes: exploring a Marketing Minor,
  Entrepreneurship, taking a Digital Marketing
  Certificate Course outside of school, and watching
  numerous of YouTube videos about "what to do with
  an economics degree".

What advice would you like to share with your peers?

• Number 1: Take risks. Don't be afraid to take a class
  that you might know nothing about but seems
  interesting or challenging. You will never know unless
  you really try.
  Number 2: Have an open mind. Even if you have a
  set career goal going into college, you can have a
  completely different future planned in college or
  after college. I initially went into college wanting to
  become an Interior Designer and saw Economics not
  only as a "safety net degree" but also valuable
  knowledge in applying it towards Interior Design. I
  now have a completely different future career goal
  than when I first went into college.
  Number 3: Your self-care is the first and foremost
  priority. School, classes, the future, and your career
  can be extremely stressful to think about. But, there is
  nothing wrong with putting yourself first. Make sure
  to give yourself time to breathe, relax, take care of
  yourself, and enjoy the ride. Live your life too, you
  are not only tied to just school.

Have you thought about plans for after graduation?

• I have decided to pursue Data Science/Data Analytics
  with my Economics Degree. As of now, I am
  completing the Google Data Analytics Certificate
  Course which will help expand and curtail down my
  options what to look for. I currently have an open
  mind and don't have a full set path or plan in what I
  will be doing after graduation, but more of a direction.
  But my direction includes either: Pursuing and getting
  my Masters in Economics or Data Science/Data
  Analytics OR applying and searching for internships
  or job experience within the field.

Is there anything that you'd like to highlight about yourself or the Department of Economics to others?

• I would like to highlight Professor Herman Singh,
  Rachel Lobo, and Dr. Yutian Chen; for helping me
  refine what I am interested in and what I want
  concentration I want to pursue with my degree.
  I also would like to highlight myself as a student for
  reaching out and asking questions to professors and
  spending some time on my own to really explore what
  I can do with my degree and what is it that I am
  passionate about and want to do.