A place to begin

Welcome to the Eoc Eco Aus Blog! My name is Aeronwyn and I am the content creator, owner, and economist at Eco Eco Aus.  This is my first post on the blog and for it, I would like to share a life-defining moment, a beginning moment that would ultimately bring me here. Let's take a dive back in time to my early years at University, back when I was trying to figure it all out. 

When I started my Bachelor's of Commerce back in 2017, I had no idea where I would finish in 2020. I started it because I knew I would need to change careers but I wasn't sure what I would change it to. At the time, I thought I would pursue careers in management or HR but the moment of truth actually came in the middle of 2019. At this stage, I was 1.5 years into my degree and had chosen my major as economics but I still needed to work out what I planned to do with it after uni so I could come up with a plan and chart my course accordingly. This question was a primary focus during my 2-week hiking holiday through the Blue Mountains in 2019 that I took as a way of reprieve between busy semesters. 

The Blue Mountains themselves are majestic.  Time stops here...or at least it no longer matters. Things change on very slow timescales over hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. It took the mountains themselves 94 million years to reach their current weathered state and I pinched myself to be able to witness it first hand. I marveled at the structures and my wonder slowly turned into the conviction that there wasn't a cell in my body that could ever agree to be a part of work that contributed to the destruction of such magnificent natural wonders for profit.  To me, it didn't seem worth it. This mystical place has so much value in my heart I didn't want to contribute to anything that would destroy such wonders for mere dollars signs in a bank account. It didn't seem worth it. 

My trip ended with my conviction rock-solid. I had no idea how, but I knew I had a role to play in conserving our remaining natural wonders and I would achieve this end goal using my economics degree. At the time I didn't know any of the details and that included any possible fields or job titles but I was on a path to find out how! 

As with all good stories, there isn't really a beginning or an ending to these journeys. My path continues and takes some really exciting turns along the way that usually bring me closer to where I wanted to go. One such moment was not too long after my hiking trip when I borrowed some books from the university library on forests and sustainability. I wasn't expecting much, just looking for some relief from the exceptionally dry world of stats and economics that I studied extensively by day. It was in one of these books I first found mention of 'ecological economics'.  My jaw dropped. This looked like a promising lead! Quickly, I googled the unfamiliar term and then grinned in excitement at the definition. There was a place for me, and I was definitely on the right road to getting there!

It was an amazing feeling and I have been chasing it ever since. While I don't believe this road has a set destination, it keeps unfolding before me and I continue to feel deeply inspired by it every step of the way. It looks nothing like how I expected it to, in fact, it is better.

Please stay tuned for my next blog posts where we will continue our journey of exploring economics with practical applications, insights, and musings. I will do my best to build on what we last covered and grow in methodical steps. 

Until next time!

Aeronwyn