A student post from The Workshop 12*
“Set a fuzzy goal.”
This was the advice given to us by Thi Nguyen, a researcher discussing how social structures shape our agency. His message resonated with my perception of the Workshop. Instead of pursuing a concrete grade, I pursued my intuition and through this journey, have found avenues to connect my passions in ways that I wouldn’t have found without the Workshop.
Under the guidance of Ms. Greenberg, our project leader, my group quickly consumed readings on inequalities in housing, gender, health, economics, and even education. We read books such as Evicted, analyzing not only the data around inequality along the way, but different modes of research and presentation, leading discussions in groups and even with grad students from Columbia.
All the while, Ms. Greenberg would begin our day with a simple question, “Have you found any rabbit holes to go down?” Thanks to the twenty new articles flooding our inbox on the daily combined with our built-in readings, the task was an easy one.
Coming from Hong Kong, I’m interested in the independence and development of former British colonies. After being exposed to the depth of inequity in the U.S., I quickly became curious about how policy differences in Singapore and Hong Kong influenced and continue to influence inequality outcomes in comparison to the U.S. Thanks to this pursuit, I’m joining a two-thousand word essay competition aiming to explain why governments impose trade barriers and tax quota’s despite a loss of efficiency stemming from these policies. Apart from my group’s copious discussions, annotations, and notes, I now have another ten-page document devoted to a new set of notes specific to this topic alone. My learning is enhanced by passion.
