Six Graphs or Six Flags?

Today was a long, tiring, yet productive day. We started off with a full-blown review session in Macroeconomics, from the fifty minutes reviewing homework to the two hours preparing for Thursday's test. We went through the six graphs (which were all different forms of a supply-demand graph) we had learned about over the last two and a half weeks and discussed the connections between all of them. Today's class was surprisingly interesting for a review, and I found it fascinating just how connected all the aspects of the economy are, and how positive things in one section of the economy could actually have a very negative effect on a seemingly unrelated section of the economy. The idea that even while some things are improving in the economy others will have to suffer made me respect economists even more, and now I finally understand what exactly economists can argue about. I knew that they would argue about why something failed or succeeded, but I had no idea that they would have to debate which aspects of the economy needed to be focused on, regardless of what part of the economy got hurt in the process. 

I quickly headed over to the gym, and I've found that the two hours lost in the gym are more than made up for with the massive energy boost I get from working out, since three hours of me fully functioning is far more productive than a drowsy inattentive me working for six hours. By 3 PM it was time to start getting as much done as possible on the group project.

We are comparing the banking systems of the U.S. and China, and my section of our presentation is to argue for the benefits of the U.S. system, and to point out all the downsides of the Chinese system. We couldn't have picked a better time to do this topic, as even now a lot of higher-ups in China are clamoring for change. There are a lot of opinions out there about the Chinese economy, and getting to hear these opinions and form my own has been great.

Today I also learned that people aren't nearly as appreciative of opportunities as you would expect. Our class seemed surprisingly empty at the start, and I realized later that it was because four of the students from Turkey weren't there. I was amazed to learn that they decided to go to Six Flags instead of class. While I understand wanting to take a break once or twice at your own school out of the one hundred something days of class, I couldn't believe they would miss one of the eleven classes we would have total that was pure learning. I get that Six Flags might not be too big in Turkey, but for a few thousand dollars for three weeks of class, why would anyone waste that money and head over to an amusement park? This lack of appreciation on their part made me appreciate this opportunity the Ivy League Connection has given me even more, and I'm sad to think that it will be coming to an end just a few days from now.