Goddamn, I'm profane!
i love economics. seriously. and i love how economic principles apply to all matters of life, even ones that don't really involve money. take, for instance, rollercoasters. this weekend, i went to carowinds. there were two rollercoasters next to each other. a little one (we'll call that "mom and pop grocer") and a big shiny green one (we'll call that "walmart"). when the mom and pop was all carowinds had, it was the shit. the lines were long and crazy and everyone loved it. but then walmart came along taking all its customers. now the walmart lines are long and crazy while you can walk right on to the mom and pop and sit and ride all day without being disturbed by would-be riders. talk about competition! my favorite economic idea, however, involves opportunity cost. i first realized its importance when my chamber group was discussing whether or not to take on two chamber pieces instead of just focusing all our energy on perfecting one. would spending extra time working on the schumann be worth the opportunity cost of taking away time from the shostakovich? we decided that it was, and now we're working our asses off on both pieces.
today i learned another important lesson about opportunity cost when my mom called to tell me that harvard, like all the other fucking-expensive-as-hell schools i applied to, was not giving me shit in terms of financial aid. she said that while we would be able to afford harvard, we couldn't do both school and the trip to ghana that we were planning for august. dammit. i've been waiting a whole year to go to ghana and see my neglected family members - all these cousins and aunts and uncles that i've never seen - and the boulevard that's named after my great-grandfather and get really cool clothes made from ghanaian fabric and eat roasted pig and do african dances. but no. harvard's taking all my parents' money. in this situation, the opportunity cost of me going to harvard is missing out on a kick-ass vacation. many would argue that harvard is worth the sacrifice. the 9-year-old in me is throwing a tantrum and whining about not going to africa. the mature, reasonable 17-year-old, however, is telling me that a harvard education is worth it and that this degree could help afford me many, many trips to wherever the hell i want to go *deep breath*
poor little mothafuckin rich girl...
today i learned another important lesson about opportunity cost when my mom called to tell me that harvard, like all the other fucking-expensive-as-hell schools i applied to, was not giving me shit in terms of financial aid. she said that while we would be able to afford harvard, we couldn't do both school and the trip to ghana that we were planning for august. dammit. i've been waiting a whole year to go to ghana and see my neglected family members - all these cousins and aunts and uncles that i've never seen - and the boulevard that's named after my great-grandfather and get really cool clothes made from ghanaian fabric and eat roasted pig and do african dances. but no. harvard's taking all my parents' money. in this situation, the opportunity cost of me going to harvard is missing out on a kick-ass vacation. many would argue that harvard is worth the sacrifice. the 9-year-old in me is throwing a tantrum and whining about not going to africa. the mature, reasonable 17-year-old, however, is telling me that a harvard education is worth it and that this degree could help afford me many, many trips to wherever the hell i want to go *deep breath*
poor little mothafuckin rich girl...