One Fear Conquered

by Travis Rocha

Ever since I enrolled at Christopher Newport, there’s only two things I have been dreading. The first one is the mathematics liberal learning foundation and the second is… the economics liberal learning foundation. As a communication and theater major, anything that has to do with equations, numbers or mathematical theories of any sort definitely frightens me. After all, I was born with the gift of gab, not the gift of geometry.

This semester, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for The Economic Way of Thinking. The class is at 7:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays and I thought to myself “great, as if I needed more of an incentive to fall asleep.” Though, on the first day, I was pleasantly surprised. My professor had an incredible energy and emphasized how his students were his utmost important priority. As he delved into economics, he didn’t throw theories and numbers at me. Rather, he put a story behind everything. This framing of the subject helped me immensely to better understand the topic at hand because he was putting it into terms I could understand. Furthermore, regarding the homework and classwork, he always tells us that there is no one, single way to get the right answer. Instead, you can choose from an infinite amount of paths to reach your conclusion.

When I learned I had to take economics, I felt trapped. I had no choice in the matter and I was doomed to a boring class that I would most likely find insanely difficult. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In class, I am engaging with the source material and thoroughly enjoying it. My professor is incredibly flexible and understands the plights of the average college student. I’ve visited him during office hours and sent plenty of emails as well. He welcomes my questions and always gives me great advice. I’m happy to say that one of my two academic stressors is taken care of!