Chapter 18 - The State Economic Summit
Three weeks into my fellowship, Dr. Hail dropped a bombshell during our morning research meeting.
"The state governor’s office is hosting an annual economic summit in downtown Columbus next month," Dr. Hail announced, tossing a sleek, gold-embossed invitation onto my desk. "They’ve invited our department to present a keynote briefing on regional labor trends and invisible economic infrastructure. I’m putting your name down as the primary presenter, Chloe."
I stared at the invitation, my breath catching in my throat. "Me? Dr. Hail, there are senior professors and tenured economists with decades of experience who usually handle state summits."
"And none of them have spent nine years working inside the very labor pool we’re analyzing," Dr. Hail replied firmly, adjusting his glasses. "You understand the mechanics from the bottom up and the top down. Write the presentation. Make it sharp. Make it undeniable."
Over the next three weeks, I immersed myself entirely in data modeling. I analyzed workforce retention rates, invisible custodial and maintenance labor contributions, wage stagnation among service workers, and the macroeconomic impact of supporting non-traditional educational pathways. Every late-night study session in the back row of Whitmore Hall, every statistical formula I had wrestled with during the pandemic, and every lesson learned from my dual life culminated in the slides glowing across my computer monitor.
On the morning of the summit, the grand convention center in downtown Columbus was packed with state legislators, corporate executives, university presidents, and influential policy makers.
As I stood backstage waiting to be introduced, my phone vibrated in my blazer pocket. It was an automated bank notification confirming that the final installments of my graduate fellowship stipend had cleared.
May you like
The event coordinator touched my shoulder. "Ms. Watson, you’re up."
I stepped out from behind the heavy velvet curtains, walked up to the center stage under the blinding brilliance of the spotlights, and looked out over the sea of powerful people waiting to hear what an ordinary janitor had to say about the future of the economy.
