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Malvin Lim

EE494

10/7/2022

General Education Reflection

General education is an essential part of obtaining electrical engineering as they allow us

to learn knowledge other than the major that we are in. General education expands our

understanding of the world and gives us the knowledge to work with when applying critical

thinking. I took a few helpful general education courses at Iowa State University while obtaining

my bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. The general education course that I think would

be most beneficial to my career are engineering economic analysis, macro economy, and Russia

today.

I always had a great interest in the economy when I studied introduction to Economics in

high school. When I started attending university at Iowa State University, I realized that they

offered a different course in economic subjects while I enrolled in electrical engineering. The

course that has had the greatest impact is engineering Economics analysis. In that course, I

learned how to decide which project is more beneficial to a company. In each of the projects a

company creates, there will be a risk of losing money as the project does not go well in the

future. In this course, I learned the potential worth of each project and compared which project

would bring more profit to the company. To do every calculation in this course, we used

Microsoft Exel to do the most calculations and tidy the work. Ever since that class, I have picked

up one of the best skills that will be helpful in my future career.

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Then macroeconomics is one of the best classes that I have taken at Iowa State

University. Inflation is getting worst as prices of almost everything in the United States have

increased. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US has the worst inflation in 10

years, with a percentage increase of 8.5%. After taking the course, it allowed me to understand

what is the reason behind inflation and allow me to understand it with an economist approach. In

addition, I also learn how the market and consumer behavior in each situation. This allows me to

understand what consumers in this generation what, and I could use my knowledge to meet their

expectations while reducing the risk of a company losing money.

Furthermore, Russia Today is a class where we learn what happens to Russia in the

current era and the history of Russia. When I was taking this class, there was a conflict between

Russia and Ukraine. In this class, we learned some of the reasons behind Russia started the war

with Ukraine, and Interestingly, we can somewhat relate it to the history of Russia. Also, in this

class, we learned some of the basics of the Russian language, which I found useful as it could be

a topic for me to start a conversation with someone who knows how to speak Russian. In

addition, the final project I did in the course allowed me to understand the technology in Russia

today.

All in all, every general education has helped me a lot in gaining skills that would be

beneficial for my future. They allow me to think critically and understand the world better.