A Redneck’s Guide to Rural Healthcare
Meet economics major and film & media studies minor Oscar Pulliam.
Hometown: Pittsboro, North Carolina
Thesis Adviser: Professor Lindsey Novak [economics]
Thesis: “A Redneck’s Guide to the Affordable Care Act & Small Town America”
What it’s about: Analyzing Medicaid in rural areas, looking at the Affordable Care Act, and the differential effect between rural and urban places. Growing up, my dad worked in emergency rooms in rural areas. I wondered: Why do people’s behaviors in rural areas differ so much from what would be an optimal economic choice, or the regular choice, in an urban area?
What it’s really about: A redneck’s guide to not getting priced out of healthcare.
Outside the classroom: I ran the darkroom, finance, and photography clubs. I was the head photographer for the Griffin yearbook. I played rugby. I worked at the Computer Repair Shop as a technician. I was a reactor operator and an RA for the economics department. I took photos for public affairs. I was also a trip leader and student chaperone for Reed Outdoor Programs and Education.
What gave me joy: Rugby and spending time in the mountains are my main escape from work. It’s hard to worry about whatever essay is due when I’m getting tackled.
Influential book: I was stressed out one day. This is a real story—it sounds stupid, but I found Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations on the ground, like a perfect copy from Powell’s just lying there. Now it lives in my bedside table. That mindset he talks about of just rolling with the punches and not trying to be super deterministic in your life has been really influential for me.
Challenges faced: Every class here requires real commitment. You can’t get by without truly wanting to
learn. Reed is incredibly challenging in that it forces you to question why you’re doing something, but it’s also the perfect place to figure out what you want to do.
Financial aid: Reed has been incredibly generous to me, my friends, and my family, and I encourage a lot of people to apply just based on that.
Help received along the way: I took Professor Noelwah Neutsil’s intro economics class, which motivated me to switch [my major] to economics. She was incredibly kind on a personal level. I emailed her that summer, saying, “I want to do economics. Would you be willing to be my adviser?” She said, “Yes, absolutely. I’ve been waiting for your email.”
Advice to freshmen: The mistakes you make at Reed and the doors that get shut in your face are the things that direct you to the right path.
What’s next: I intend to pursue work in policy research through economics, but before that I’ll be traveling through Europe, taking time to broaden my perspective. For me, the social sciences are a way to channel passion into impact, particularly in improving rural healthcare.