Last night I slept for the longest period of time that I have in a long time. This whole past week I haven't gotten much sleep because we have been so busy. And before I even left for New York I was going to bed really late. Last night I went to bed around 11:30 PM and woke up around 8:00 AM. It felt so good.
At about 8:30 I met Jackee (a girl in my class who is also from California) at the dining hall for breakfast. After breakfast we walked around campus for a bit then headed for class. We remembered where it was so we had no problem.
This is where the stress starts and continues for the next three weeks. Class begins. This is the morning lecture from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. We used the Professor's compound average growth rate (CAGR) formula with Excel on our laptops during lecture. It isn't as hard to use as I thought it would be.
For the most part the professor discussed CAGR. This is basically the growth rate of anything over time. For example, if you put money in a bank and you earn an annual interest on the money, after ten years there will be more money in the bank than the original amount plus ten times the original interest amount. If every year, at the same time, you earn interest on the current amount of money in the bank then each year there will be more money for there to be an interest on than the previous year. Lets say you have $100 in the bank with a 5% interest rate (unrealistic I know, bear with me), instead of there being $150 at the end of ten years there is actually roughly $163. Or lets say that there is a single bacteria that multiplies every hour. At each hour all the bacteria will multiply. The CAGR is just a way to calculate changing growth rates.
Professor Mesznik then connected the CAGR to the population growth rate of the world and how it is compounded and how it changes over the years. When discussing this he also considered several factors such as female fertility rates and natural disasters, factors that would affect population rates. This was all very interesting. He talked about industrialization, advances in technology and wages that have allowed more people to have more children.
The way the professor teaches/talks the professor has a way of lecturing that is relatively interesting to listen to. It seems like he begins a though and then goes off on a tangent. He actually begins a thought, starts talking about something that seems completely random, and then connects his original thought to the final point he is making. Even though I get a little confused in the middle, it is really interesting because he gives you a whole new prospective of the world. The way he connects all these different ideas and events in history really shows how the whole world is connected. It is a whole new way of thinking.
At the end of class the professor assigned us our first assignment. We have a 250 word paper due Thursday. In this paper we have to choose one or more countries and analyze their population growth rate. He would like us to 'tell a story' and make our papers entertaining to read. We are meant to take the statistics of the population growth rates along with other factors such as women fertility and technological advancements to explain why the growth rates have changed in the ways that they have. Along with this writing assignment we have to read one of the three books by the weekend and read some articles he emailed us.
Then in the afternoon seminar which is from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we discussed Game Theory. (The afternoon seminar is taught by a TA rather than the lecture professor.) Essentially every person, everyday uses game theory in everyday life. Game theory is basically a way of making decisions based on the best response, or best way to respond, to previous decision or assumed future decision made by any player of the game. From an economic standpoint, game theory is used by companies trying to outdo each other. Because cartels in business cannot be made, business go against each other trying to make a profit. The Game Theory explains how businesses will make decisions based on each other. There is also something called Sequential Game Theory which can also be applied to real world, everyday life. It is the considering of several different scenarios and choosing the most preferable option.
The world is a game and we are all players.
The TA for the afternoon seminar has also assigned homework. She emailed us three problems regarding game theory and we have to choose the best options. She also email us some articles that she wants us to read.
Some of the concepts presented in both the morning lecture and the afternoon seminar can be a little difficult to grasp at first. It takes quite a bit of brain power. (Maybe that's why I'm so sleepy after my good night of sleep?) I was hoping, and still am, that the class would be more conceptual than mathematical and so far it seems as if it is. An economic way of thinking is whole new way of thinking so wrapping my brain around some concepts takes some time.
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| Dinner! |
Jackee and I had lunch together and then met up for dinner. We have been eating at the dining hall. The food isn't that bad. Plus it would just be an unneeded extra expense to buy food. I have to be very careful about eating healthy! Because the food isn't bad it's hard not to choose it over salad. For example at lunch there was pizza, past, and cake; and for dinner there was pasta, chicken and cupcakes! Although I did eat these unhealthy things, I did have a side of salad or fruit at each meal.
After we ate dinner, she, two of my suite mates (Sally and Lucia), and I went and walked down Broadway. We walked as far as Duane Reade and I bought some small essential stuff like toothpaste, the walk wasn't far.
I need to get started on my homework and reading. I really, really hope that this class doesn't stress me out! I just have to be conscious of my time management.
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