Economics for Leaders - University of Michigan
Studied 5 core economic reasoning propositions including markets, costs, incentives, property rights, government intervention and international economics.
Studied in lectures and participated in multiple simulation activities to understand knowledge from a through a hands-on experience.
Learned to deliver work and lead teams in the context of the Leadership Pyramid Matrix, which covered personal, relational, and contextual leadership domains.
Participated in multiple activities to improve ability to work with and lead teams and to connect responsible leadership and the economic way of thinking.
Beginning:
I decided to participate in the Economics for Leaders summer programs at University of Michigan. I had to travel alone this time and stay in the US for a week. I also had to live with a roommate who I didn't know, and try to make friends and connections.
Development:
I managed my time and agenda and also made sure I had everything I needed while traveling. I made plans and calendars to manage my daily activities. I encouraged myself to approach people and start talking and introduce myself.
Results:
I enhanced my self-management skills to make sure I was doing all the work efficiently and at the right time. I was able to greatly improve my ability of approaching people and getting to know them and make connections.
I participated in the Economics for Leaders summer program at University of Michigan. As the name suggests, It is a course that teaches economics with connections to leadership. Economics included lectures and many fun and engaging activities that reflected vividly the concepts learnt. Leadership included almost purely activities to build team work and let us experience and reflect on leadership skills and technique.
One of the first challenges I faced was probably traveling abroad the first time without my parents accompanying. My parents and I said goodbye in Shanghai, from there I had to figure out all the traveling details to Ann Arbor, spend a week in the program, and fly back to Shanghai. This greatly enhanced my self-management skills because instead of sitting around and following my parents, I had to learn to know when to do what and go where.
This challenge continued as my program started. The schedule was tightly packed and everyday was exhausting. Yet I still needed to make sure I am keeping in pace with the agenda to make sure I don't miss anything. This switch to no longer taking everything for granted further benefited my building of self-management skills. I had to make calendars on my phone, set reminders and alarms, and constantly coordinate myself with the plan to make sure I am not missing anything. I had to do all of this while still keeping up with class content and activities and also making new friends and connections. This multi-task week really helped me get a taste of what it is like to study in a University setting, like I am going to do in the future.
I was challenged by other things too. For example, unlike last year's summer program, where I was placed in my own dorm room, this year I had a roommate. I had to use my communications skills to build a friendship with him and make sure we know each other's living habits quickly and be able to spend the next week together in comfort. The hardest part was the beginning. It is intimidating to start speaking, especially in a group of people who don't know each other, walking around, talking to everyone, introducing myself and making friends. However, seeing everyone else do it, I encouraged myself to do the same, and everyone was very friendly and I was able to make many friends on the first afternoon. This greatly boosted my confidence and interpersonal skills. I feel like the important implication of this was the experience of overcoming this barrier that I built for myself. I know perfectly no one is going to be unfriendly or mean, yet I was just still afraid for seemingly no reason. However, I fee like this is experience, I will be able to do the same thing in a other situations with much more ease and confidence.
Overall, with this education experience finished, I can say that I not only learnt the knowledge promised in the course, but many other skills including self-management, planning, interpersonal skills and gained confidence and overcame a barrier that I created myself. I feel confidence that with these challenges resolved and myself improved, I will be able grow ,as a person, more in the future.
I participated in the Economics for Leaders summer program at University of Michigan. As the name suggests, It is a course that teaches economics with connections to leadership. Economics included lectures and many fun and engaging activities that reflected vividly the concepts learnt. Leadership included almost purely activities to build team work and let us experience and reflect on leadership skills and technique.
One of the first challenges I faced was probably traveling abroad the first time without my parents accompanying. My parents and I said goodbye in Shanghai, from there I had to figure out all the traveling details to Ann Arbor, spend a week in the program, and fly back to Shanghai. This greatly enhanced my self-management skills because instead of sitting around and following my parents, I had to learn to know when to do what and go where.
This challenge continued as my program started. The schedule was tightly packed and everyday was exhausting. Yet I still needed to make sure I am keeping in pace with the agenda to make sure I don't miss anything. This switch to no longer taking everything for granted further benefited my building of self-management skills. I had to make calendars on my phone, set reminders and alarms, and constantly coordinate myself with the plan to make sure I am not missing anything. I had to do all of this while still keeping up with class content and activities and also making new friends and connections. This multi-task week really helped me get a taste of what it is like to study in a University setting, like I am going to do in the future.
I was challenged by other things too. For example, unlike last year's summer program, where I was placed in my own dorm room, this year I had a roommate. I had to use my communications skills to build a friendship with him and make sure we know each other's living habits quickly and be able to spend the next week together in comfort. The hardest part was the beginning. It is intimidating to start speaking, especially in a group of people who don't know each other, walking around, talking to everyone, introducing myself and making friends. However, seeing everyone else do it, I encouraged myself to do the same, and everyone was very friendly and I was able to make many friends on the first afternoon. This greatly boosted my confidence and interpersonal skills. I feel like the important implication of this was the experience of overcoming this barrier that I built for myself. I know perfectly no one is going to be unfriendly or mean, yet I was just still afraid for seemingly no reason. However, I fee like this is experience, I will be able to do the same thing in a other situations with much more ease and confidence.
Overall, with this education experience finished, I can say that I not only learnt the knowledge promised in the course, but many other skills including self-management, planning, interpersonal skills and gained confidence and overcame a barrier that I created myself. I feel confidence that with these challenges resolved and myself improved, I will be able grow ,as a person, more in the future.