Risk and Uncertainty

Within the context of risk and uncertainty, the major you choose, activities you participate in, and amount of debt accumulated are all ingredients that are supposed to come together to bring you a source of income. For some it's exclusively fulfilling work or a high income, and the more optimistic people are shooting for both. Go to a good school, get good grades, get a good job. Regardless of what is fueling a person's decision to go to college, this is the basic outline they're following. Well, I guess the "good" isn't a given. But if they're going to school, grades will follow, and the previous two factor will influence the number and types of opportunities they have in terms of work. Making sure everything is all done well will reduce uncertainty of opportunities. 

My decision to attend U of I was based primarily off the school's reputation. My thinking was that when I graduate I'd have a name brand that could signal a decent level of quality. There are other routes I could have taken. There was community college, other in-state colleges, and a few out of state. Comparing what each school offered was difficult. Each one varied in cost, prestige, opportunity, and personal appeal. I actually made a chart to compare the options, but it wasn't as helpful as I had hoped. Aside from cost, most of the factors were qualitative which made it difficult to rank them. When I visited the schools, I'd ask about job placement rates and other things like expected salary. Surprisingly, some said they didn't have the numbers, or the information they had wasn't very significant. It was probably because a lot of that information is self-reported and collected through surveys. U of I, being a bigger school, was one of the few with decent information available. I don't think it was around at the time, but I somewhat recently found out about an initiative U of I has taken to collect and publish this type of information. I think that's pretty neat, and it should be a standard for all colleges. 

I came into U of I undeclared. This wasn't a decision based on reducing income risk, it was more so based on the uncertainty of my aptitude and interests. A period of sampling commenced, and at the end of it, I declared my major to economics. Prior to making that decision, I had a few meetings with advisers. We mainly talked about paths economics graduates have taken, and they gave me a list of companies and job titles graduates were working under. The list was long and diverse. It seemed like the major opened up a good number of doors, so I made my decision. 

While on campus I've maintained a part-time job. I don't work a whole lot of hours, but it was something I could put on my resume, which was helpful in going to career fairs during my earlier years. The past two summers I was able to secure an internship. These, like my part-time job, were real work experience that would hopefully set me apart from other job applicants. Such experience adds to my ability to do different work, which should help in securing a job. Less than a year away from graduating, I can rest assured that one million more dollars will be coming my way than if I had not graduated college. Some additional precautions I make to raise the floor of my income is wearing several pairs of socks at all times, because tall people make more money.