Often the best way of knowing is by asking, so we did! Here are a collection of winning essays from the Economics Network’s student essay competition and a few diary extracts,

“The first shock of university is the chaos. So much happens so quickly and no matter how much you prepare, there is no easy way to settle down into being a university student. For me, the most pressing issue was what was expected of me. Whilst nearly missing lectures due to a confusing timetable – which was not personalised for the first time in my life – I had only a vague idea of how much work I had to put in.”


Photo by m00by on Flickr

“As a young girl, I can safely say that I never dreamt of becoming an economist analysing supply and demand graphs nor did I have a burning passion to understand why firms make the decisions they do. Most of my interests stem from a desire to learn more about people. While Economics is typically seen as the ‘dismal science’, the most topical and important issues that affect all of us are undeniably based on Economics. These range from understanding how some people live in dire poverty while others live like kings to realising how Nick Clegg or Gordon Brown’s change in policy is really going to affect the average Joe.”