A Reflection on Microeconomics

By Cassie Peay

Econ 2010
July 25th, 2021
I. I have developed quantitative literacies necessary for my chosen field of
study by taking Microeconomics this semester. My chosen field of study is
business management and entrepreneurship. I want to open my own small
business and Microeconomics has gotten me one step closer to my goals of
owning and operating a business. My ultimate plan is to open an after-
school music program, where youth can come and get the necessary
homework help they need, emotional support they may be in search of,
and developmental skills learned through music education, whether they
want to pursue music long-term or not. After having taken this course, I
now understand what market structure I can expect to be operating in. I
also know how elasticity of demand and supply works and I can use that to
my financial benefit. Another concept I learned that I had never thought
about before, was the idea of externalities, positive and negative. We all
deal with externalities, but I never realized how they may impact a
business’ success or downfall. I learned about many different graphs and
how different they all look, depending on supply, demand, price increases
and decreases, and market structure. All these new concepts have
contributed substantially to my entrepreneurship endeavors.

I have developed new knowledge and skills to work with others in a

professional and constructive manner. Understanding market structures
better, I’m now able to understand why it’s so important, in my current job,
to set ourselves apart. I work for a dental office, the one that’s in my
business analysis, and I’ve always put excellent patient service first but now
I can see even more reasons why we need to stand out. I’ve been able to
communicate with my office manager about business dealings and
questions throughout this summer, while taking Microeconomics. It’s been
so enlightening to apply my accounting classes, and now this one, to our
firm and help her adjust costs where we can and operate more efficiently.
I’ve also been able to help my coworkers in staff meetings with new ideas
and better ways to maintain relationships with our patients. I also work
with them to consider how externalities could affect our income, from
dental treatment plans to warranties and write-offs on our dentists’ work. I
now work better with my team in the office to provide better, total utility
for our patient base.
 II.
When I initially enrolled for Microeconomics, I honestly didn’t know much
about what the course would entail, and I was intimidated. I didn’t understand
that microeconomics is literally all around me at the base my consumerism and
spending. All my assumptions have changed. I feel like I understand so much
more about business now.
Throughout this process, I would say that the assignments and discussions
were the most influential in helping me learn. The graph I created in Chapter 7
was one of the most eye-opening assignments of all. It was incredibly interesting
to see the things I had read about come together in a visual. I learn well from
images and graphics so positioning the curves and seeing “total cost” and “profit”
come together in those colored sections was very beneficial. One of the most
influential discussions was in Chapter 5, where I was able to read terms from the
“Mini Encyclopedia of Behavior Economics.” I referenced The Decoy Effect and
The Framing Effect, although there were so many other terms that I read about. I
was blown away at how many marketing ploys there are and how many I’m
constantly facing. It’s so intriguing to understand how relevant and important
microeconomics is.
In the future, I will approach microeconomics with an open mind. I will also
approach it with knowledge about costs, markets, industries, and how all their
graphs work. I really enjoyed differentiating between every market structure and
learning specific examples of each. This course seamlessly tied into my previous
business foundations and accounting classes. I really enjoy seeing all the required
courses tie in together and further my progress toward my goal of acquiring a
degree in business.