Now that the semester is coming to an end, (as well as my time at Penn State) I am reflecting on Econ 304 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) – arguably my favorite class that I have taken in college. Taking the class has taught me a lot of things and has opened my eyes to understand politics and the American economy much more in-depth. Through the class, we were able to better understand the foundations of the Great Depression, Great Recession, the dot com bubble and many more instances where the economy was in shambles.

Before I get into the course, I am a firm believer that a class is only as good as the instructor that teaches the course. Throughout my time at PSU, I have had very hard-working and fair professors and I have also had my share of professors who could improve in their delivery and organization. Having Dr. Chuderewicz teach the class allowed me to recognize the difference a 30 year experience has on ensuring that students are able to walk away with material that will be beneficial for them for a lifetime. Even though the course was a difficult course, Dr. Chuderewicz was very fair in his assessments, it all came down to the student to put in the work to get the grade he/she desired.

Because I am an economics minor, it has been some time since I have taken an econ course (finished half of the minor freshman year and taking the remaining 3 classes this year) and I had no clue what to expect. Prior to the first day of class, I heard many people saying that it was an educational experience for them, however, I would be lying if I said that I was not a little intimidated on the course’s material. Now that the class is over, I am pleased with the experience because I have learned immensely (I definitely had to work for it though, those two hour exams were brutal).

I loved this class because it was not taught in a “traditional” manner. Instead of reading and taking material from a textbook, Dr. Chuderewicz behaved as a walking encyclopedia throughout the semester and was very knowledgeable about the questions that we had relating to the material the application of the course in real-life current events. For example, almost every class opened up with us reading a few articles from the Wall Street Journal (this is a habit that I picked up from taking the class) and how we could critically think about how different outcomes and scenarios could occur. It was here thought I learned the Fed controls interest rates which influences the value of current/future assets and why politicians hate it when the Fed raises rates (makes it seem like the economy is not doing as good under their watch). I was able to learn (and put a face to) the influencers behind the financial transactions that happen everyday like Alan Greenspan, Jerome Powell, and Janet Yellen to name a few.

There is so much more that I can discuss about this class, but if I did I could ramble and ramble until a word limit is reached. Outside of the course, Dr. Chuderewicz made a statement that I will never forget, “Back in our day we had immense pride when we were able to say we attended institutions such as Penn State. Now it seems that students do not understand the privilege that they have in their hands.” When he said that, I quickly realized what he said was indeed, true. Now that I am about to graduate, I realize that there is a handful of students who are hungry for knowledge and do everything in their power to optimize the opportunities that are presented in college. I also realized that there are students that do the “bare minimum” which is enough to get by, but not enough to critically think about the material at hand. Finally, I discovered there are students who do not care about a particular class and hold very lackadaisical attitudes.

To close, I will say that the institution one attends only matters to a degree (no pun intended). I now understand that I have the upper-hand when compared to other college students who have taken Intermediate Macro because of the experience that I had and the material that we have learned. In class, we learned about a momentous concept known as a reverse repo (a very useful tool utilized during the Great Recession) which students from other elite institutions have no clue about. When other Penn State economists go out into the real world, they have a reputation for being very knowledgeable and for getting the job done when asked. I am excited to see how I will apply this knowledge down the line.