Spring 2015

Hockey practices were cancelled and I have taken advantage of the opportunity to take part in a special academic program that our university offers: Chicago Field Studies (CFS). I have still been active in our student consulting club, analytics, and I have also helped the admission office with a few minor tasks, like getting volunteers for events such as presentations and international high school visits.

As I have mentioned before, this quarter I decided not to take the usual 4-5 classes in my field of study, but I applied for our CFS program. The CFS program combines academic education with work experience. Students who take part in this program have one day filled with classes and discussions regarding modern work culture and other topics. During the rest of the week, students are working for various companies in the greater Chicagoland area. (I was working in downtown Chicago so my commute was a breeze, other students sometimes had to drive for more than an hour to get to their jobs.)

I have to say that this quarter was incredibly interesting and that the CFS program was very enriching. The academic part of the program was led by a young lecturer who used to work as a corporate lawyer before choosing to switch careers and delve into academia. Every week of class had a different theme. All of the topics that we talked about are relevant to modern American society. We talked about the development of corporations, employee rights, ethics and values in business, workplace discrimination but also about newer topics such as the culture of startups. Our lectures usually consisted of inviting guest speakers to speak about a certain topic and then continued with guided discussions and in-class exercises. I do have to mention that our lecturer, Jamie, was incredibly apt at stimulating discussion and creating a productive space, especially when compared to some of her much more experienced colleagues.

Our analytics team was working on a special assignment from our department of economics. We were hired to conduct a study investigating the ethnic and social diversity of students in the economics program. Besides the necessary gathering of demographical information, we tried formulating and validating hypotheses that would explain why is the economics student body less diverse than other fields at Northwestern. (Except for the international diversity, engineering and economics seem to be miles ahead in the international segment. At Northwestern, if you’re not studying economics or engineering, you’re not really considered a real international student.  )

This spring has definitely been one of the most interesting quarters at Northwestern. This summer I will be spending a few more weeks in Chicago, before I head back to Europe to see my family and friends.