Fostering Future Industry Leaders: Economics Club

As of today, the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) boasts almost 300 student organizations. Among them is the Economics Club, which aims to connect students with UIC faculty and alumni who are experts in economics. The Ampersand spoke to Hrishikesh Bhaththiwala, the President and former Secretary of the Economics Club and an Honors College student, about his rewarding experience there.

What is your role in the Economics Club?

As the secretary, my role involves the procurement and delivery of gifts for our speakers to express gratitude on behalf of everyone in the club for their presentation. To prepare for this, I conduct research about the speaker(s), their area of expertise, and the topic of their presentation. I have been in this position since being elected in Spring 2019. Beginning next semester, I will be serving as the President of the Economics Club.

What were your expectations for the Economics Club? Has the organization met your expectations?

My expectations were to connect with like-minded students who also share an interest in economic affairs, and to learn from faculty and professionals working in different industries. So far, the club has exceeded my expectations since I have had chances to talk to professionals and get a glimpse of how economics is used outside the classroom.

What do you think is unique about the UIC Economics Club?

UIC Economics Club is unique in the sense that it not only fosters relationships between students interested in economics, but it also creates opportunities for students to network with professionals for potential internship or research opportunities. I would also like to emphasize that out of the 10 meetings we had during the Fall 2019 semester, none of the content was repetitive. We had guest speakers from think tanks, insurance companies, banks, financial institutions, and the Graduate College of UIC talk to us about their journey as an economist and their tasks related to current economic issues. The fact that a single extracurricular activity embodies such a level of learning makes the UIC Economics Club highly unique.

What was the presentation that you found most interesting?

One of the presentations was given by a research associate from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs about the trade policy of the Trump administration. Not only did the presentation explain the motivation behind the trade war and its impact on the economy, but it also provided a great amount of detail about future outlooks for agreements such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) provisions. I found this presentation interesting because I gained up-to-date knowledge on trade wars, and an insight on what researching global affairs looks like in a global affairs think tank.

How has your experience in the Economics Club been useful? How do you see your experience being beneficial beyond college?

It has made me well-versed in current economic affairs, which has added to my knowledge about the application of economics in the real world. Moving on from college, these experiences will allow me to apply the knowledge that I have gained thus far in the world and make an impact on the society.