Next year, Aragon will introduce a new full-year dual enrollment course, economics.
“Economics is actually a great foundational subject as it can be applied to a variety of different majors,” said government and economics instructor Kevin Nelson. “It’s a decision science, and you’ll begin to see problems in a different way, more efficiently. Whether it’s a business, environmental, or time management problem, economics, it’s at the foundation of decision making.”
Many students intend to take the course to learn more about the control and management of money. Some like Steven Sah, who intended to pursue a career in business, see it as a crucial course to take.
““I have my career path pretty much planned out,” Sah said. “Economics is important because as a businessman, or [when] you’re dealing with the stock market, you need to know how the economy works, how money works, and how to make the most of it.”
Until now, economics was taught as a semester course, paired with an American government class for seniors as a graduation requirement.
“I feel very excited [that this course has been added],” said sophomore Paul Yu. “I actually [wanted] to take it last year but it wasn’t on the list.”
Students who have wanted to take a full year economics course have had to take them outside of school in the past.
It’s really important for sophomores and juniors to explore like I did, and so I think this econ class would be great.
“I took AP macro last year outside of school,” said sophomore Aayushi Kothari. “I couldn’t find any location that offered the class so I ended up taking AP macro through UC Scout, which is like an online course.”
Current seniors have mentioned feeling like they missed out, but are happy that other students will get this opportunity.
“I’m going to college as a finance major,” said senior Hukh Ren Hao Timothy Chin Hao. “During my sophomore and junior year, it was really important for me to explore my options and get to know the majors out there. It’s really important for sophomores and juniors to explore like I did, and so I think this econ class would be great.”
Economics is usually split into microeconomics and macroeconomics.
“[Microeconomics is], how do we personally behave? How do businesses behave?” Nelson said. “For example, why do we buy the items that we buy? When we study companies, we would look at how companies operate in an efficient manner. Where’s their profit maximizing level of output, and how do we make them more efficient? We would also then study why monopolies could be good or bad in different situations.”
Macroeconomics examines economies at a far larger level.
“Macro is the big picture, like full economies and full countries,” Kothari said. “There are units about foreign policy, foreign currencies, the general aggregate supply, and the aggregate demand of nations or economies.”
Interested students can speak to their counselors about taking the course and earning dual college and high school credits.
