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Traditional Final Prompt

Overall, I think I learned a lot through this course. The main thing I enjoyed about blogging and reflecting on material was that it required me to connect it to my own experiences. This was very different from other economics courses I have taken, including the foundational 102, 103, 202, 203, 302, and 303, and urban economics, the other 400-level course I have taken. By applying it to my own personal experiences, I think that the concepts and applications truly have stuck in my head in a more meaningful way. For example, in the beginning of the course, I reflected upon group dynamics in RSOs and other organizations, and I never really thought about what I was doing in that way. I hope this will make me a more effective group member and enable me to better understand these interpersonal connections. Personally, I found the triangle model prompt to be the hardest, for I felt that I did not have much experience with this layout. With the others, I think that I analyzed them in a much mo...
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Triangle Model

I found this prompt a bit difficult to my own experiences. I feel that I have not encountered many situations like this, as I do not have much experience in the work place with this idea. I tried to think of an example, but I think this addresses this model in a more indirect way. When I was in high school, I was involved with the Youth Running Program. Members of the high school team mentored elementary school students with running track. I think this looked great for the school district, as many places did not offer track opportunities to children so young. It was definitely a good experience for me, as I was able to actually teach about running, something I genuinely enjoy. Also, it was good for the kids, as they learned something new, and good for the parents: they have something to brag about for their children. Throughout my time as a mentor, I encountered many competitive parents who wanted their kids to be the best at track. They were extremely competitive about their kids ev...
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Conflict with Group Dynamics

Overall, I think that when people have to work together, there is always some area in which conflict arise. Most people do not approach problems the exact same way, which is what makes collaborating so important. However, most of us think our solutions are optimal, and this creates forms of conflict. I will provide an example of this from my internship last summer. Last summer, I was a data analyst at a company, and interns had to work together on a final project to present and show what we learned throughout the summer. Although all of us had the same title in the company, a college student interning for the summer, some people definitely felt more highly of their contributions. When the five of us worked together, immediately, some students assumed a leadership role and others were followers. This does not necessarily create conflict, but I know that when one of the interns constantly referred to their contributions to the company in a more arrogant way, I was slightly annoyed. I k...
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Discipline in the Work Place

Overall, I think that constructive criticism is important in the work place: it enables workers to complete the task assigned in the best way possible. Additionally, if managers or leaders do not specify the expectations for assignments, it makes it nearly impossible for employees to be able to complete the task to the best of their ability. Therefore, clear communication and expectations is a necessity for a productive collaborative environment. This past summer I had a remote internship. I was a data analyst, so I mainly dealt with organizing data and identifying trends in the successes and failures of the marketing team. Overall, I think I had a good experience. My boss set the expectations for what I should do very clearly, and whenever a chart or analysis powerpoint was not up to her expectation, I was notified immediately. I greatly appreciated this clear form of communication, and I respected her input. I knew that I had not taken part in similar activities before, so I listen...
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Gift Exchange

Overall, I think the articles are trying to demonstrate that in general, human beings are caring towards each other. However, when competition increases, it may force people to not act in line with their values. When people start to think that helping others can ruin their chances of being successful, our reaction is to protect ourselves. I enjoyed reading the article about altruism, and I think its explanation of how being altruistic can benefit the economy, government, and general quality of life was very interesting and eye-opening. Gift exchange, the transfer of goods or services, is considered voluntary, yet it is expected. I think this idea ties into altruism, completing an act that benefits someone else without expecting anything in return. If it is voluntary, generally speaking, it is altruistic. For example, I have never seen a student not hold the door open for a student on crutches or try to pass a student on a wheelchair who is trying to get on a bus. Yes, when it is cold...
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Future Income Risks

I think that when I was in high school and thinking about what to major in, I wanted to continue studying something that interested me. However, I feel that after attending high school in a relatively wealthy town in New England, there was a lot of pressure on what college people should attend. Throughout the application process, I know a lot of my peers were extremely stressed about attending the best possible school they could get into with regard to prestige. For me personally, I knew that I wanted to attend a state school, either UMass Amherst or the University of Illinois, because they were good schools, and my parents would be able to support me throughout the process with the in-state tuition. I had applied to some Ivies, but my parents made it clear that they would not be able to financially support me. I do not regret my choice. I think that for statistics and economics the University of Illinois has good rankings, a rigorous program, and is able to satisfy my needs without pa...
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Reflection Post

Although each blog post has a specific theme or prompt, I think that in general, except for the first post about my alias, they generally do address different aspects of working in a team or some sort of group. For example, the very first post about transaction costs in organizations, which is the cost required for organizations to make decisions in the most effective way. In class, we talked about Williamson's theory about transaction costs, and how organizations manage these costs through rules and regulations. I talked about how the organization Alpha Phi Omega engages with transaction costs by indirectly enforcing the importance of joining committees and contributing to the overall well-being of the fraternity. When people do not actively engage with the group, they lose out on some social aspects. In the next post about opportunism or taking advantage, I was able to directly tie my example of my high school cross-country coach prioritizing athletes who purchased shoes from his...
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