Philippa Rice
Philippa is currently studying BA Economics and Politics at the University of Sussex.
Why did you choose to study economics?
The main reason why I chose Economics was because I needed a third subject for A-levels and when I read what would be covered in Economics such as learning about international trade and how different policies impact the wider economy I thought this was right up my street as I had an interest in policies and how they impact the wider society and, therefore, decided to take it as my third A-level subject.
How would you describe economics?
I would describe Economics as very versatile. There’s so many things that you could be learning about. One day you could be learning about rates of interests and the impacts of this on individual businesses and also the wider economy and then the next you could be learning about happiness and how this can be used to determine inequality within and between countries. This means that Economics can cater to a ton of different interests and if you are particularly interested in something, for example, climate change, Economics can be used to understand more about this.
If you had a time machine and could meet your 16-year-old self, what advice would you give them?
I would give my 16 year old the advice of you can really do anything if you are determined. When I was 16 I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do and I also thought that I was only going to be able to achieve certain grades and higher grades, for me, were unobtainable. However, through hard work I was able to gain the grades that I thought was out of my reach. Therefore, I would say to my 16 year old self never give up and if you put your mind to something you can achieve it.
What is your favourite part of economics?
My favourite part about Economics is being able to understand the cause and effects of things introduced or things that occur. Being able to say ‘well if this were to happen this would be the impact is’ really interesting but what is also interesting is how some models fall apart when other variables come into play. I think for me to be able to use models and see how they cope under certain conditions as well as using these to understand what has occurred is really eye opening to how the actual economy works and not just in theory.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had the chance?
If I had the chance I wish I discovered Economics earlier. For me Economics was only offered for A-level and I was lucky enough to be given that opportunity to learn about the subject. However, I wish that I had the opportunity to learn about it earlier which would’ve allowed me to have found a subject that actually clicked. For me I found that not that many subjects clicked for me but as soon as I found Economics everything fell into place.