Quantitative Microeconomic Theory, which is just as boring as it sounds, is a class offered by the university through the Lerner College of Business. When I entered the class on Thursday, I naturally worked my way towards the back corner as I’ve done everyday so far this semester. However, something was different this time; I was soon surrounded by a group of students, 5 girls and 1guy, who all seemed to know each other. Not often do you find yourself in a class where more than 2 people know each other, let alone 6, so I was intrigued. I soon decided that they would be my subjects for this prompt. 

The group continuously talked amongst each other for the fifteen minutes preceding the scheduled start time for the class and as they talked, I couldn’t help but listen in on their conversations since I was the one awkward outlier in the back right corner. As I listened, I quickly put together that they were all business majors, except for one who stated that she was a Math-Econ major.

What I found interesting about their conversation though was the fact that it mostly stayed on the subject of education and life after college. One of them, the guy, seemed to have his life all sorted out—something the other girls emphasized as he confidentially talked about his stocks, internship opportunities, and potential careers. He clearly knew what he wanted in life. He was very well dressed on the day and intended to attend the career fair right after class. One of the girls also planned to attend the career fair, but she was very unsure about herself as she brought up concerns on being underdressed and having a “shitty resume”. Everyone else around her immediately leaped in to encourage her to go to the career fair, but by the end of class she still seemed unsure about going.

As I continued to listen in on the group, I realized they weren’t as close as they initially seemed to be. I heard questions such as, “What year are you again?”, and, “What’s your major?”, giving me the sense that this group was still getting to know each other. Despite this, the group still seemed to have a strong connection with each other, one that could last for years to come.