Reflection Blog - Frederika

This J-Term was very impactful but it could be a little overwhelming sometimes. I came into this course wanting to just learn the basics since I had very little awareness about finances and no knowledge about investing so everything was new to me. Even though I might not remember all the information that was coming towards me all at once, I still have access to all the resources that were introduced so now there's a starting point for me to continue exploring where to invest, the different types of taxes, loans, mortgages and everything else. I really got much more than I expected with a thorough and informative course. 

One resource that I appreciate having is the books. Even though I might not be able to apply everything that I learned from them into my life now, I will have them on hand when I become more financially independent. Dr. Ott is also a great resource since she has experience with both teaching and using her financial knowledge in life. All the stories about her personal experience weren't only amusing, they were good examples that applied what we were learning from our books and research into real life situations. Also, the activities in this course can be used as a "road map" for my future, especially the yearly budgeting sheet from The Game of Life. 

I learned a lot from the collective research that everyone else on this course did for our individual presentation topics. I'm very glad that they are all still available to me because I now have a condensed set of information in one place that I can always go back to if I forget. I also learned a lot about trading stocks, even though I still don't have a strategy that works. The stock trading simulation and numerous articles on Investopedia opened up a lot of new concepts to me that I would not have gotten the exposure to without this course. I definitely feel more equipped than scared of my future now that I have the tools to guide me in my financial endeavors. 

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