As soon as you realize the fact that you can't really be dependent from one's parents for the rest of the life (the sadness of the puberty ending... yes...), one starts to think about the future in terms of what successful future is to him. It would specifically depend on one's idea of a successful future how he or she should be risk-taking or risk-aversive, but nevertheless one would not want the upcoming future to be a bottomless pit of agony.
For me, things have changed over the years about how I think about a successful future. I would like to explain this in a little bit detailed manner as I go through this post, but I will start off with some general information in regards of how I prepare for my future.
The majors that I chose: Why?
I initially chose economics as my first major. Of course, like most of the other students, the reason for choosing economics was to have a firm background on how economy goes around in preparation of having a career related to business. I was personally thinking about consumer preferences which was, and still is a hot topic in the market. If I were not to think about the future and take the major I would have wanted, instead of writing this post, I would be practicing piano in the Smith hall at this moment. So economics was not the most favorable choice that I wanted to make. However, it was one of my interests to have a firm understanding of how decision making is done for a wide spectrum, from individuals as consumers to how government makes its decisions for a policy, besides playing the piano professionally.
The second major that I have is computer engineering in the ECE. I added this major to prepare myself for one of my dream jobs, which was being a patent lawyer. When one wants to be a patent lawyer, it would be much beneficial for that person to have professional knowledge in technology, since he or she is to view lots of papers with new ideas of technology. Although my graduation is being delayed for a certain amount of time, it certainly helps me to understand the skill concepts related to computer systems.
To be honest, I found out that going law school right away after my bachelor's degree is almost impossible. Dealing with the tuition is not really easy for me right after graduating my undergraduate degree, and I had to make the decision to work and accumulate some wealth before I do anything. Even though things go around like that differently from how I have planned, ECE in this university is certainly helpful, since I can choose my future job from a much wider spectrum, not only from the business sector, but also from engineering jobs too.
Summer works, and earning money.
I had to spend most of my summer time working to pay my tuition. For the work, I tutored English in Korea. I was able to make enough money to pay my tuition, and as a result, I do not have any debts regarding the student loans. However, in regard of my future job, tutoring is not really helpful in terms of experience. It did save me my tuition but when I apply for jobs and interview with the recruiters, it would not be as helpful as doing an internship on a related field.
Self-protection and Self-insurance, what means most to me when it comes to my future?
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I
learned in class the concept of Self-protection and Self-insurance. To be
honest, I think my self-protection and self-insurance decreased as my concept
of successful life changed over time. This thing is quite personal, and I will
have to compare my current thoughts with those of my high school year’s
thoughts. Back then, I was passionate for the so-called ‘worldly successes’. Making
lots of cash wouldn’t hurt me at all when I thought about it, and I saw no
reason not to have a great job and consume myself with tight work schedules.
However, as I was thinking about what would be truly important for me as time
went by, it was not the all-fancy jobs that really mattered in my life. Of
course, as I said above, it wouldn’t really hurt me, but it was not the thing
that I wanted to focus in my life. My current view of a successful life is to
have a ‘responsible’ job that could support my future family, instead of
getting the best job that I can get.
Since there was
a change inside my thoughts, the aspect of self-protection and self-insurance
went through some changes within me also. When I applied for college, the
self-protection part was to focus most of my time on studying, which had
relationships with my self-insurance, which was getting the most out of the
grades that I can get. For now, I don’t really spend my time on studying as
much as before. As I have become less enthusiastic in getting a good job, I do
not spend most of my time studying. I do the things that I like more, and try
to rather focus on trying to know what people around me are like in depth. The
self-insurance part did not change, but the reason towards having a good grade
is not because I want a great job in the future, but to fulfill my duties as a
student.
As one can see, I had some changes over time, and due to it, my concept of the 'future' significantly changes from the past and the present. I am not as ambitious as I used to be, and I am easily satisfied with my future conditions. It does not mean that I would be okay living out in the street, but as long as I have sufficient income that I could be responsible for maintaining my future family, I wouldn't really argue about my future. Because of these changes, I think managing my risks for the future lies in somewhere between the past and the present concept of how much I think about my future and how far I am willing to take risks.
It seems to me that a double major, with one of those being ECE, is still quite ambitious. So I wouldn't be so hard on yourself in that dimension.
ReplyDeleteI am curious, however, and I hope this isn't prying, but if you are paying the full tuition for international students and if you earned enough to cover that by tutoring English in the summer, might you earn less in whatever comes next for you, whether Economics related or Engineering related? Or do I not have the facts completely correct here?
I wonder if there are some other choices you've made that also should be considered from the managing risk point of view - coming the U.S. for college, choosing the U of I instead of possible alternatives, getting a double major instead of concentrating on only one field, and possibly other decisions related decisions.
Also, as I wrote on another student's post, there is a concept call "real income" that differs from financial income, in the sense that the former cares about the person's satisfaction while the latter does not. Might it be that some of your change in view is about increasing your real income, though possibly at the expense of financial income? College is meant to sort out your motives as well as to provide you with human capital for what you will do next. It seems from my perch that you are getting from college what is intended.
As always, thank you for reading and replying on my comment, professor Arvan. I find it quite challenging when I face the dual degree program, and I do feel that it was one of the most ambitious thing I had decided in my whole life. However, it is ultimately the change of how I view what matters the most in my life that made me a little bit skeptical about the things I do at the moment. It does not mean I am going to stop what I am doing, but nevertheless, I would not feel the same as how I felt around 6~8 years before.
DeleteAnyways, earning the tuition and comparing the tutoring with my future job is one of the most questioned things, not only from you, but from the people all around me. The tutoring business in Korea is immense; if one doesn't see how serious and passionate Korean parents are to educate their children, one wouldn't know what it is like to be a tutor in Korea (I mean, how they are paid, not how they are treated). A lot has to be mentioned to explain why I choose to continue with my studies and pursue the future job that I am going to take instead of tutoring in Korea. However, I will try to convey my thoughts with two things here. First of all, the tutoring job is temporary. If I plan to do the tutoring job as my life-long career, it would be different, but the way I am doing it to earn my tuition is not long-lasting. I accept a student, and take care of him or her throughout the test period (which is around 8~9 months until she finished her SAT). After that, I have to have some time to search for new students. If I get lucky, the parents of the current student might introduce me to other students, but that is not always the case. In order to support a family, it is much more stable to have a steady source of income, even though I would earn less than tutoring. So, one of the things I would prefer is to have a stable source of income rather than earning big-time in a short period and worry about the next tutoring while searching for another student.
The second point is that I would not be satisfied in just teaching the students for my whole life. Of course, it is honorable and worthy of spending my time if I see the students succeed with my help, but a part of me would feel dissatisfied, especially with the amount of education that I had throughout my life. The tutoring in Korea is not a honorable job; even though you are a teacher, it is not as same as being a professor, or even a high school teacher. A lot of parents in Korea see the tutors as just a paid employee, and would treat you like one. You have mentioned 'real income' at the last part of you comment. It would fulfill part of my satisfaction, but it would not give me more satisfaction than the alternative choice, which I pursue to go on with my career. As a result, it is true that in a short term it would give me much more financial benefit if I tutor instead of going towards a career of Economics or Engineering, but it definitely would not give me the steady incomes, which I value more in the perspective of a leader of my future family. Plus, it would not give me the amount of satisfaction that I would like to achieve while doing my jobs.
I understand that diverging my efforts for the studies is a risk-taking decision. I would be able to explore a major much more thoroughly if I chose to focus on one part of my majors. However, my view point on that certain matter is a little bit different from the statement you have mentioned. Everyone has their capability to embrace the amount of studying. It might sound arrogant in a sense, but I think I am able to learn the basic things that each department has to offer to me. It is true that if I consume myself on one single major, I might be able to get an in-depth knowledge in that field that I might miss when I am doing dual degree. However, the value of learning and understanding both concepts seems much more beneficial to me in terms of the wide spectrum of choice it offers to me. To be honest, I do not have the so-called 'engineering brain' that the science guys have. I have a hard time understanding the concepts and have to spend twice to three times the effort the other people make in order to get the understanding that I would be satisfied with. However, I never regretted to add Computer engineering as my second major. If it is considered a risk that would undermine my future, it is a risk that I would be willing to take. Life is about making choices, and I want to see how my life would turn out after the choices I have made.
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