The Times They are A’ Changin

These are crazy times. The presidential elections loom, the U.S. economy is experiencing historical tumult – business as usual is anything but.

I can’t think of a better time to be in business school. Here, I am surrounded by professors and classmates who help me make sense out of all of the rhetoric spewing from the talking heads on every news channel, quoted in every article in the Wall Street Journal. Lately most of my classes begin with some discussion of the current economic climate. It seems that the more I learn about the workings of the economy and the stock market, the more questions I have and the more help I need in understanding what it all means. Thankfully, just last week, a group of UGA business professors hosted a panel discussion about the economic crisis.

Opinions are varied, of course, but the best part of being at Terry is that students are encouraged not to adopt the views of a favorite professor or most admired classmate, but to critically analyze what we see, hear, and read and form our own educated opinions. That mentality also translates into the assignments we complete as students. We’re not graded on whether or not our views are aligned with that of our professors, but on the clarity of our argument and the quality of our supporting evidence.

On the downside, I now laugh at statistics jokes about sample size. I’ve found myself making economics puns. I haven’t watched reality TV in months. It is also difficult adjusting to the extreme reduction in monthly income, but one can endure anything for just two years, particularly when the ROI is right. Right?