First-generation college student McKena Miyashiro, a native of Honolulu, Hawaii, came to the University of Portland, in Oregon, to study economics. She was drawn to the field for two reasons: she believed the quantitative and qualitative skills she would learn would make for a successful career, and studying economics would help her become better informed about the world. She explained, “Economics governs our society – it informs our decisions about how we should most effectively allocate our limited resources throughout society. Thus, being an economics major seemed like a natural choice to me in order to understand the mechanisms by which our society works.”
One of McKena’s favorite classes in college was Labor Economics with Professor Todd Easton, one of her favorite professors. In this class, she learned about the causes and consequences of rising income inequality in America, something she’s particularly interested in. She shared, “I have always had a strong interest in uplifting and protecting marginalized individuals in society, and this class opened my eyes to a world of potential policy options that may mitigate rising income inequality and improve the economic status for those at the bottom of the income distribution.”
In line with her dual goals, McKena would like to pursue a career in the consulting field after graduation, but she also has a strong desire to help others. “I would like to open a nonprofit college resource center for socioeconomically disadvantaged youth. Far too often, low-income students do not have the resources to help them navigate through the college application process. By opening up this resource center, I want to ultimately improve the college enrollment rate for these students, as I believe education is the key to reducing poverty and improving economic mobility for those at the bottom,” said McKena.
To read her full story by Pearsoned, please follow this link,
http://www.pearsoned.com/education-blog/student-studies-economics-understand-world/
Story provided by Pearsoned.com, February 2017