Hello everyone,
This week was pretty uneventful yet somehow so exhausting. I got to Friday and I was so tired. I think I just stayed up too late one too many nights this week and so that all caught up to me by Friday. Definitely going to be sleeping earlier this week (usually I get to sleep around 10:30pm). This weekend we celebrated my friends birthday by going to get Thai food and then I had my first rehersals for the two dance pieces I am in for Dance Y.
I think one of my first midterm exams is coming up in a week or so - it’s for my economics class. After taking Econ 100 last spring I never thought I would take another econ class during my college career. I only took econ last spring because it is a required class for the international affairs major. I did not like Econ 100 at all. I remember so desperately wishing I could do econ. During the homework assignments it would sometimes make sense but by the time I got to test I did not know how to do anything. The only times I’ve ever wanted to cry during a test were during Econ 100 exams and one time during pre-calc in high school. My final grade in the class was a B (the only B and lowest grade I’ve gotten in college) and I was so incredibly happy for it because I felt like I was failing the class (I got C’s on most of the tests but A’s on the homework). I had convinced myself that my brain was just not made to do economics. 
This fall I took IA 340: International Political Economy (IPE) and this spring I am in IA 350: Social Justice in the Global Economy (both international affairs courses that focus on the economy). I love my Social Justice in the Global Economy class because we are learning about real world issues and ways that we as people with privilege can intervene to stop exploitation and bring justice to the global economy. International Political Economy gave me an incredible base for understanding everything from the gold standard to globalization to the 2008 Financial Crisis and beyond. I am also currently in Econ 220: Financial Systems. Partly I am taking Financial Systems because I am considering minoring in Political Economy and it is one of the electives and the other reason is because it fits into my schedule and my friend is in it. The class has been quite interesting and very informative. I know how to use balance sheets now and am learning about mortgages and the U.S. The Federal Reserve system among other things.
Looking back, Econ 100 may have been my least favorite class but it did give me tools and vocabulary that I now use in my other courses. I have come to realize that perhaps my brain was not made for graphs and lines showing supply and demand but rather for understanding economics as it relates to international affairs and the global economy. Maybe I do have an econ brain after all.
Have a wonderful day,
Sarah