CHARLOTTE -- Tough lessons in economic reality are becoming teaching tools in the classroom. A professor at Johnson C. Smith University is turning issues like the Wachovia takeover and the economic stabilization plan into valuable lessons for his students.

“They find a real connection to what they're learning and what we are discussing in class,” said associate finance professor Dr. Haseeb Ahmed. “For example, when we talk about the credit crunch, the problem in the credit market, how is it going to affect the student loan market?”

That's a key topic for junior Zubida Bakheit, who calls her new-found knowledge empowering.

“We'll be able to calculate our own interest rate if we buy a house, if we buy a car, and this is a time in our lives when we’re just getting into that,” she said.

For senior Ti'tiana Davis, it's finding a job in an unstable market that's most interesting and at the same time unsettling.

“It's important that I market myself in order to get a job,” Davis said.

Ahmed's class will continue to track the direction of the economy throughout the semester, taking lessons from the streets to the classroom.

“It's an interesting time in the financial markets, and being a student, a fiance major, it’s more understandable because you can relate the real world with what you see in the classroom,” said junior Jermaine Gassaway.

Ahmed's class is also studying a number of other topics affecting the economy including the gas shortage and the mortgage crisis.