I love learning new things. I always have. There are few things more exciting to me than knowing I’ve conquered a new topic and added an academic tool to my toolbelt. I’ve always been pretty good at learning too. Truth be told, most school subjects have come pretty easily to me throughout my academic career (barring 12th grade AP Physics, but we don’t talk about that class…) This had been true, until last semester with Applied Econometrics. Now. Let me say this. While I’ve always been good at school, I’ve also always recognized my strengths and I am a humanities student. I relish subjects like history, english, cultural studies, etc. I am not a STEM student. I can do math and science! But I don’t enjoy those subjects as much and it does take me just a bit more effort to do well.When I enrolled in my MPP program here at Heller, I was very ready to take my policy courses, such as Social Policy Analysis and Law and Social Justice! I was not as ready to take Applied Regression Analysis (APA) and Applied Econometrics, my statistics courses. I took APA in Fall 2024 and it went off without a hitch. It certainly helped that I had taken a previous course with the professor and knew his teaching style. But Econometrics was a different story. I took the course with a new professor, and I took the course without having taken the prerequisite on the statistical tech package we would use for the course. You may be wondering, Calah, why would you do that? Great question. I love a challenge! Kidding. The truth is a bit more complicated, but I did it because I knew that it was the path that worked best for my schedule and graduation plan and I knew I would have the necessary support from classmates, my professor, and teacher’s assistant. I did it because I knew I could do it!
I didn’t always feel like I could though. The very first class, while my fellow classmates were moving along using the Stata package, I sat there silent and lost for about two hours. Luckily, my very amazing and gracious TA sat with me for the next hour of class walking me through the steps of how to complete my assignments. It can be very frustrating when you understand a concept but don’t really understand how to do the application! This cycle: coming to class, feeling lost, trying on my own, asking questions of my classmates and TA, and finally knowing enough to complete the assignment at hand repeated itself for the first 4-6 weeks. Slowly, I learned more and more, not just about econometrics, but also about this new Stata software we were using to complete our assignments. And with each week, I grew a little more comfortable and confident.
When I submitted my final Econometrics assignment for the semester I started to reflect on my experience. When I started the course in January, I knew days would pass and the end of the semester would come, but honestly, I couldn’t see the clear path forward from not knowing how to upload a dataset in Stata to knowing how to do all I can now! I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without my professor’s instruction and TA’s patience (shoutout Kaitlin)!
If you’re considering a Heller program but nervous about a particular subject or task, from learning Stata to public speaking, it’s okay! There are so many people here ready and willing to help and support you throughout your time here. Remember, everyone here wants to see you succeed and will do what they can to ensure you do! I am grateful for my Econometrics class. Not just for the information I learned in the course. But I am especially grateful for the reminder that we are always students, learning new information and processes wherever we go. Sometimes it will be easy. But if it is hard, that is not a sign to quit. It is a sign to lean on your support system and struggle through until you can say you’ve added that new tool to your toolbox!