When I applied to UC Berkeley as an economics major, I had never taken an economics class. Although I wanted to learn more about business, I wasn’t quite comfortable attempting it as a major. So I ended up applying under economics, a major I had never considered before and something I got a few raised eyebrows for. The following spring I took my first economics class when my school was able to offer it. While taking that class, I discovered that I loved it which immediately eased my nerves about trying it out for a major.
Coming into Berkeley studying something I had little background in was admittedly difficult. Taking introduction to economics was daunting, especially when many of my peers had taken multiple economics courses and built their foundations on the subject. The first class felt stressful. For some reason, I believed that everyone in a 500 person class knew at least a little more about economics than I did. My freshman brain was a little funny and a tad dramatic (imposter syndrome is real). But even if it were true, it didn’t take away from me making the most out of the experience.
My professor, Emmanuel Saez, was truly amazing. While he was a bit new to teaching the class, he put an immense amount of effort into making the topics understandable and always kept me on my toes with quirky comments. One time, he created an online poll for us to respond to a question. The class did pretty badly so he went into a detailed explanation. Just before he moved on, he jokingly said something along the lines of “don’t worry, you can redeem yourselves”.
In a way, those words resembled my attitude towards the class. Taking my first major related class was nervewrecking and I had a few stumbles but was able to make progress and find support. The Student Learning Center had resources for my classes so I visited for tutoring and attended review sessions for exams. Those resources and a determination to “get it right” got me through the course despite the challenges. While it wasn’t easy to learn about production functions or marginal product for the first time, my original inclination towards economics persisted and I ended the semester with a newfound confidence to continue learning the subject.
That confidence and curiosity propelled me forward in my later economics classes. I took my final major prerequisite just this summer and declared as an economics major after a year of being a Berkeley student. My second year isn’t necessarily easier. There are still concepts I have to grapple with to fully make sense of. But everytime I see the name Saez on a slidedeck when a piece of research is being presented, I smile and remember how it felt when I was just starting out.
Choosing a major you’ve never contemplated before is not something I would genuinely recommend. However, if it wasn’t for the choice my 17 year old self made, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to find this major. I’m incredibly grateful for the support I was offered so I could take those early steps to uncover my enjoyment of economics. While I don’t plan on making another hasty decision anytime soon, I would still take a chance and give it my all, just like I did with choosing economics.