I Took a Test, Everything I Know About Economics I Learned from Stardew Valley

Last week, I had to go out of town to take a test on a Sunday at 4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, which is a weird day and time to take a test. But the testing center is extremely busy, and they canceled my first, more-reasonably scheduled Wednesday morning test, and by the time I went back into the system to re-schedule, Sunday at 4:00 p.m. was the only time left for the entire month, and I didn’t have any choice. I was already a bit nervous, because it had been two decades since I had taken any kind of test, and I’m not a great test-taker or an academic whiz by any means. My main study methods were self-created flashcards and the erratic reading of a textbook, which was so dry and dull I wanted to gnaw my fingers off after the first chapter. This wasn’t a test I could really study for anyway, since the vast bulk of it was based on “professional knowledge” that I was expected to know from osmosis after fourteen years of doing my job.

The passing of this test will bestow upon me a specific credential which I can be proud of, but which will have no bearing whatsoever on my career advancement (there is none in my niche job), my earnings, or enhanced professional respect, since no one outside of my field knows what it is. I knew this going in, but I decided to take it anyway. It’s good to do unpleasant, anxiety-producing things occasionally to avoid atrophy of the brain and spirit. So I did the 100-question test to the best of my ability, of necessity using almost the entire two hours that were allotted, and forcing myself not to freak out over the math questions. It was a weird experience, and by question 70, my brain was getting exhausted. It was like running a marathon with no training. But after a certain period of time, I started to “vibe” with the test questions. I don’t know how else to explain it, but the internal rhythm and logic of the questions began to fall into place and I understood what answers were being called for. Not to be a grade-grubber, but I really want to know my score. Unfathomably, scores won’t come out for a few more weeks so I have to wait, but I’m going to be very proud if I aced it.

After the test and a crazy work week, I was completely mentally exhausted, and I turned back to my old friend Stardew Valley just for the comforting nostalgia and brain-numbing repetition of planting, milking, mining and fishing in a pretty little pixelated town with NPC’s who feel like old friends. This time around, I was very aggressive about spending every single dime earned, and at the start of Year Two, I have the Deluxe Barn and Coop, an expanded house, and the mount. This used to take multiple in-game years when I first started playing the game, because I was pathologically adverse to spending money and I didn’t understand the concept of Return on Investment--for example, how quickly that $16,000.00 cow was going to pay for itself in truffle oil sales. I’m now spending like a drunken sailor and concurrently earning money faster than I ever have in the game. It’s kind of sad that I learned more about basic business economics from a video game than I did in 12 years of school and four years of college.

Today is Candelmas and the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, when the baby Jesus was presented in the Temple. It is a gray, freezing, blustery morning with gusts of snow, and when we entered the Church, we received candles, and at the beginning of Mass, lit each other’s wicks from a blessed flame. Holding the candle warmed and comforted me, and seeing the faces of the congregation lit up with the soft and beautiful candlelight gave me hope that the light of Christ is ever-present in our broken and suffering world.

--Kristen McHenry