Alumni Career Day

I have been in James Madison for two years, and these two years have been great! When I was asked to write a piece on what my favorite JMC memory has been so far, I thought I wouldn't be able to choose. From the friends I've made to the professors to the classes to the opportunities, I've been more than pleased with what JMC has to offer. That being said, I was finally able to choose my favorite memory. That memory is..... wait for it... JMC Alumni Career Day. Now, you might be wondering why that is and why on earth that would be my favorite memory over a class, paper assignment, field experience, or anything else. Well, I'll tell you why!

Alumni career day is an annual event hosted by JMC's career services office. In my last two years, our career consultant, Jaimie Hutchison has put together great events. At Alumni Career Day, several Madison alumni come back to Case for an afternoon full of events where they talk to current students about what they're doing, how they got there, and what their Madison experience did for them. Through panels and presentations, students have the chance to learn so much! I've had the chance to meet people who work in almost every field I'm interested in. From lawyers to a USAID service officer to a UNFPA Programme Specialist to someone who works with refugees, I've had the chance to make great connections with some pretty cool alumni! This is due to one of the most important parts of the event - the networking reception. I remember this part from my freshman year. I was so nervous! This year I had another try, and it was great.

Through JMC Alumni Career day, I have had the chance to learn more about myself and my interests, learn about several opportunities out there, and get some great professional development experience and tips from an alumni. This event has been a part of JMC that I will always cherish. I have no idea what Alumni career day could do for me, but I do know that I'm super excited to attend it in my last two years here at MSU. Should you choose to attend MSU, you don't want to miss out on this great event!!!!!


Florence
International Relations
Sophomore

My Favorite Class: Politics and Markets

When asked what my favorite class I have taken in James Madison College over my four years I immediately am transported back to my spring semester of my sophomore year and MC 241- Politics and Markets with Professor Emmett.

I was interested in the Political Economy minor and was told that MC 241 would be the perfect for me to test whether I liked the program of study as well as get a requirement out of the way for my Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy major.

I enrolled in the class and was at first nervous about the amount of books that we would be reading over the semester. The book list had approximately 7 books on it, on the higher end for a Madison class, and they were all on economic theory. I was nervous about it, but I went into the class with an open mind.

I have not learned more from one class than I did in MC 241.

Professor Emmett leads the class through discussion. We make the seating in a complete circle and he starts the class with a question. It was intimidating at first but soon I came to love the way the class was structured as the class was completely discussion based as opposed to lecture based. I felt that I learned a great deal from this class because of the discussion based. What was more, is I gained a really deep understanding of economic policy because that was what the class focused on.

The aspect that I most liked about the class was not only the discussion based learning but also the material covered. The course focused on the debate between John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek. Having the modern economic policy debate contextualized in that manner allowed me to better understand the debate as well as formulate my own opinions.

I ended up choosing the Political Economy minor because of MC 241 and the nature of the class. Having mostly discussion based classes that really encouraged my learning and understanding of the subject matter was incredibly rewarding and fun.

Stephen
Senior
Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy
Political Economy Minor