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Before joining this class, I never really thought about how finance and museums work together. I mainly thought of a museum as a place of art, history, and education. However, after taking this class, I have learned more about how museums and business go hand in hand. I realized that museums also have their own financial struggles, just like any other corporation. They need money for their employees, maintaining the museum and artifacts, creating their exhibits, and much more. 

One connection I have made from our class discussions is when we were learning about the White Cube by Brian O’Doherty, which taught me about how museums make decisions that influence how visitors learn about the objects or artwork. O’Doherty also talks about how the “White Cube” gallery is designed to influence the visitor’s experience at the museum by changing the lighting, background, spacing, layout, etc. These choices are also influenced by finances. Renovating buildings, curating the topic, lighting, and wall color are all very expensive. If museums do not know how to work with their money, how much to spend, invest back, or how much debt to take on, their exhibits would not be able to give the visitors the full experience. 

Finance also contributes to museums through budgeting, investing, fundraising, taxes, and pricing decisions if they are selling art. Some cash flows museums have include ticketing, memberships, donations, and merchandise. A finance professional could help budget those cash flows to create more opportunities for expansion, provide a safety net for big projects, and make sure everything runs smoothly. For example, if a museum wanted to make its admissions cheaper to make it more accessible to its community, a financial advisor could help them with sponsorships. 

I also think that Museums can teach people about financing. I believe museums could show an exhibit of how the costs of everyday purchases have changed, like gas prices, groceries, schooling, housing, and wages. They could show this across different points in time throughout history. People could see what $5, $20, and $100 could buy at those points in time. I think that this would educate people on how money circulated in the market

Overall, I would say that this class has changed my perspective on museums. I now know how to appreciate a museum, and I can use my knowledge from class to maybe curate my own exhibit some time. It also affected my thinking on how museums and business interact day to day. Museums need strong financial management in order to keep collections, create exhibits, stay accessible, and continue staying sustainable long-term. Finance professionals could help museums make responsible decisions with budgeting, investments, fundraising, and more. Although the two topics seem to be as far from each other as possible, they have a lot more in common than meets the eye. 

Throughout my time at Plymouth State University, I have learned a few skills that go beyond just trying to memorize information for a good grade. PSU’s four Habits of Mind are purposeful communication, problem solving, integrated perspective, and self-regulated learning. These four skills that I have picked up at PSU have had a strong impact on my growth not only as a student but also as an individual. Although I have not fully perfected these skills, I would say I am in the climbing stage of the HoMs.

The first Habit of Mind I learned is Purposeful Communication. Purposeful communication is explained at PSU as a skill that involves being able to create meaningful messages that can help increase knowledge, influence others, and build understanding. I have practiced this skill at PSU through writing emails to professors, presentations in class, group projects, and much more. Because of my Finance major and economics minor, I am constantly looking over information and reports and then having to explain them more simply or in my own way to show my understanding. An example of that would be in one of my investment classes, I have had to build a portfolio and with all the financial transactions I would take to increase my profitability, and then present it to the class and explain all my reasoning for all of these trades. I have also had to learn to cater to certain audiences and how to communicate certain ideas to certain people such as my professors, students, and employers. I would say I am climbing in this skill since I have shown a lot of progress and growth, but I do not think I have “mastered” this skill.

The second Habit of Mind skill I learned at PSU is Problem solving. Problem solving is defined as an “iterative process” that includes identifying the problem, considering all possible solutions, making an educated decision, and analyzing/reflecting on the choice. I have practiced this many times in my finance, managerial, marketing, and accounting classes. A perfect example of this is when I had to create a budget for a company in Excel. I had to first figure out what needed and didn’t need to be included in the budget, then I had to trial an error my way through the formulas to make sure that the company was maximizing its profitability and growth. I believe this shows that I am at the climbing level because it shows that not only am I capable of being a problem solver but I am also capable at adapting to new problems, and remaining flexible through the “iterative process” by being able to go back and change my approach to certain problems. 

Another habit of mind skill I have picked up is Integrated Perspective. Integrated perspective at PSU means being open to ideas from everyone because anyone can look at a problem and have a different idea based on their values, experiences, and backgrounds. It also means that a decision that is made could not only affect you individually but it could affect the community, and even the environment. I have seen this in my strategic management class this semester when we were discussing the economic outcome of “Impossible beef”. Everyone had different perspectives based on their values, health styles, and background. Again, I would place myself at the climbing level in this skill since I could work on actively trying to find other opinions instead of just acknowledging them when they are brought up. 

Self Regulated learning is the last Habits of Mind skill that I learned and is probably my weakest skill. pSU explains self-regulated learning as students who take their oen initiative in learning, setting their own goals, learning from mistakes, and being able to push through challanges. Although it is not my best skill, I have learned that I study better by splitting up assignments into smaller steps so that I can grasp a better understanding of the material being taught. One bad habit I have that keeps me from fully grasping this skill is that I am a big procrastinator, but I am improving on that. I also have learned how to self-regulate my stress by going to the gym, hanging out with family and friends, and playing sports. I would say that at this skill I am in between basecamp and climbing since I still have a lot to improve on. 

In conclusion, I can see that I have grown exponentially educationally and mentally in my everyday life. Although I have a few areas like self-regulated learning and integrated thinking, I can confidently say that I have gotten a pretty good understanding of the habit of Mind PSU has taught me. 

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