Central Mass. economic forecast: a high schooler perspective
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Maynard High School junior Nicholas DeCastro (fourth from left) sits on the stage of the WBJ Economic Forecast event. The other Maynard students who attended the event (back row, from left) are Owen Hale, senior; Alex Kucich, senior; Kyle Morgan, junior; DeCastro; Harrison Bourgeois, junior; Charlie Fitzsimmons, junior; and Ryan Henderson, senior. In the front row is WBJ Publisher Peter Stanton.
On Feb. 16, a group of juniors and seniors from Maynard High School attended the Worcester Economic Forum hosted by the Worcester Business Journal and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. It was a great opportunity to hear from industry leaders, thought leaders and economic professionals about the future of our country’s economy.
Upon arriving through the double doors, we were blown away by the professional and exciting atmosphere that we encountered. Before the presentation, we got a chance to do some early networking, which helped us begin to comprehend what was about to unfold. We were told that this event was long, but substantive by many of the returning members.
When the presentation finally began we were blown away by some of the statistics they provided. As high school students, we are sometimes coddled and live in a protected environment. Most of the information comes from teachers, adults around us, and the media, but rarely do we get the perspective of actual business owners and professionals. The speakers helped relay a message that could speak to all of us in attendance.
One thing we learned is that the corporate tax rate is much higher in the United States than in other countries and this impacts our everyday lives. We Centennials – as we learned is our named demographic – combined with Millennials make up almost 50 percent of the U.S. population. That is an important statistic for any business owner or politician to understand. As future business owners, we will need to focus on emerging markets and connect to younger demographics to be successful.
Another feature about the presentation was the humanitarian aspect that was added by the chancellor of UMass Medical School, Michael Collins. He brought to light the human impact of the recent policies made by the Trump Administration. As a high school student, the human side of the situation is more readily digested than the economic side. By having a speaker that connected more on a human level than from an economic standpoint, we found this to resonate more deeply with us. He brought in the humanitarian values of the travel ban, which was blocking future medical superstars and possibly barring world-renowned surgeons and doctors from returning to the United States. As high school students, this can mold us into becoming more understanding and to weigh not only the economic pros and cons, but the effects it has on the other people as well. This was possibly the greatest take away from our experience.
The experience was fantastic, not only from increasing of our knowledge, but also for the networking capabilities that were provided to us after the event. We were exposed to a wealth of people from different companies that were all successful in their field. By talking to these people, we made connections that are hard to establish as a high school student. These lessons tie in directly to the content we are learning in classes such as AP U.S. history and current events. The event was well worthwhile, and the Maynard High School students will be honored to attend such events in the future.
Nicholas DeCastro is a junior at Maynard High School.
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