This spring, fifteen undergraduate students in the Weatherhead Economics Society (WES) at 星空传媒, traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with representatives from the private and public sector.
鈥淭he D.C. trip was one of the best experiences I鈥檝e had in college to date,鈥 says Brooke Hathhorn, a third-year student with a double major in mathematics and economics. 鈥淕etting to meet research assistants and economists across all sectors鈥攁cademic, think tank, government and private鈥攎ade me realize how many options are open to me after graduation and motivated me to explore new career paths and fields of research within economics.鈥
President of WES and fourth-year student, Rebecca Schneirov, took the lead on planning the trip with the help of the WES executive board members.
Schneirov, who will graduate this spring with bachelor鈥檚 degrees in economics and statistics, and a full-time position lined up at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, says the trip was planned to help her peers with professional development skills and networking with alumni and others in the field.
On the first evening the students arrived, they met with two research assistants from the American Enterprise Institute鈥撯搊ne who works in domestic policy and the other as a research assistant for economic research.
鈥淲e talked about what led them to working at the AEI and what their work looks like on a day-to-day basis,鈥 Schneirov says. 鈥淭hey also both spoke to us about their future plans.鈥
Over the next two days, students networked with more professionals鈥撯搕alking with employees from Amazon AWS Skills Center and touring the facility, chatting with economists from the American Institute for Research and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics鈥撯揳nd they met up with Susan Helper, who is the Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics at Weatherhead School of Management. Helper is currently in D.C. as an economist at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and has had previous experience working on the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).
鈥淲e talked with her about the different roles she鈥檚 had in the CEA and OMB and learned how these have differed,鈥 Schneirov says.
Among Schneirov鈥檚 favorite visits was with research assistants from the Brookings Institution.
鈥淚n the summer I will be working as a research assistant on the regional economics team at the Chicago Fed,鈥 she says. 鈥淗earing them talk about their work and seeing how passionate they were made me so excited to start on my own research. It was really encouraging.鈥
During the visit, students also toured the city, seeing notable places like the Library of Congress and the Washington Monument.
鈥淥verall, the trip made me very excited for my future career,鈥 adds Hathhorn. 鈥淚t was so fun to deepen existing friendships, make new connections, and grow the incredible community in the Department of Economics."