Income Risk
We all face risk with regards to our future, arguably because of its tendency to remain unknown, rendering it hard to prepare for. I always thought that going to college merely for education is a misconception. People of my generation have been raised with constant access to the Internet, and we should all know better than think that the only way to access structured knowledge is through tuition. That's delusional and is nothing but an attempt to transfer the responsibility of educating oneself to someone else. One might argue that college is an exchange of tuition money for certified knowledge, yet it seems that your experience and effort matter increasingly more than a diploma. In fact, a diploma might not matter all that much.
There are some fields and careers (i.e. medicine; research) where formal education is crucial, but in most of the cases we are all collectively overvaluing the role of higher education in our lives. College does, however, provide an incomparable environment for meeting like-minded people, exploring your interests, and maturing. It is, of a sort, a melting pot of minds. It's important to recognize that college gives you only marginally more frictionless access to knowledge while vastly expanding your personal opportunities, and to act appropriately.
With that in mind, I chose a field of study (Mathematics with an Economics minor) tangential to the career I am trying to pursue (CS) with the purpose of using this maturation time to gain as broad of a knowledge as possible. It has been risky, but trying to play it safe is prone to unpleasant surprises, because I doubt that many of us, if any, know what a safe approach to life really means—there might not even be one.
First two years of college, I worked on several projects, most of the time involving a small team of like-minded people. Some weren't anything but experiments, others grew into something bigger. The summer following my freshman year, I spent working on one of the "bigger" things, and I think that experience helped me get a great internship for the following year (last summer, that of 2019). Sophomore year, I worked with a company that was then in its infancy, but is now a growing startup. This year, I'm deliberately taking more time to dive into books and theoretical knowledge.
It's hard to say what approach to life and the forthcoming career is less risky than others. There's a proverb in Russian saying "do what you ought to do, and let the rest be". In that sense, having an idea of where you're aiming in life is great, but all the decision-making, at the end of the day, is being made here and now, in the present. And following a good choice in the present is superior to trying to conform to the future that someone else laid out for you.
In actuality, I just looked up some of the thoughts presented here and found this little article about Warren Buffett's approach to his career. The relevant quote is: "I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don't like because you think it will look good on your resume".
In sum, remembering what you're in college for and that a well-paying job is not the Ultima thule will make you happier in the now, and the rest is up to life to decide.
There are some fields and careers (i.e. medicine; research) where formal education is crucial, but in most of the cases we are all collectively overvaluing the role of higher education in our lives. College does, however, provide an incomparable environment for meeting like-minded people, exploring your interests, and maturing. It is, of a sort, a melting pot of minds. It's important to recognize that college gives you only marginally more frictionless access to knowledge while vastly expanding your personal opportunities, and to act appropriately.
With that in mind, I chose a field of study (Mathematics with an Economics minor) tangential to the career I am trying to pursue (CS) with the purpose of using this maturation time to gain as broad of a knowledge as possible. It has been risky, but trying to play it safe is prone to unpleasant surprises, because I doubt that many of us, if any, know what a safe approach to life really means—there might not even be one.
First two years of college, I worked on several projects, most of the time involving a small team of like-minded people. Some weren't anything but experiments, others grew into something bigger. The summer following my freshman year, I spent working on one of the "bigger" things, and I think that experience helped me get a great internship for the following year (last summer, that of 2019). Sophomore year, I worked with a company that was then in its infancy, but is now a growing startup. This year, I'm deliberately taking more time to dive into books and theoretical knowledge.
It's hard to say what approach to life and the forthcoming career is less risky than others. There's a proverb in Russian saying "do what you ought to do, and let the rest be". In that sense, having an idea of where you're aiming in life is great, but all the decision-making, at the end of the day, is being made here and now, in the present. And following a good choice in the present is superior to trying to conform to the future that someone else laid out for you.
In actuality, I just looked up some of the thoughts presented here and found this little article about Warren Buffett's approach to his career. The relevant quote is: "I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don't like because you think it will look good on your resume".
In sum, remembering what you're in college for and that a well-paying job is not the Ultima thule will make you happier in the now, and the rest is up to life to decide.
I thought your introductory paragraph a bit odd, but then the themes of your post became more apparent after that. So I want to reframe some of what you say. But before I do - thanks for the Russian proverb. I hadn't heard it before. Then, let me observe that Maslow might be a good source of inspiration for you. Perhaps there is too much on your plate now to dive into Toward a Psychology of Being, but over the winter holiday it might be a good read for you. If you identify with self-actualization as the goal, then the learning is what it takes for you to do it with some regularity.
ReplyDeleteWe face risks walking across the street. I would guess you don't do this, but it is not hard on campus to find students with their earbuds in not looking when they cross the street. They assume the cars and the bicycles will adjust to them, not the other way around. Mainly that assumption is right. What happens when it isn't? Managing risk is for those times.
If you think that the market values some skills (which are the product of ability, what has previously been learned, and effort) then your income might depend on being able to convey that you have those skills. For a Math/CS person, grades, especially in non-math courses, might not matter much at all. But for those in our class who are econ majors, the perception is more heavily that grades matter, especially for entry-level positions. I've said in class that this is myopic. But I don't believe I've persuaded any students on that proposition.
There is a question whether you could self-teach and be as proficient without college, also whether you would do this without college. I think it is possible, but not all that likely. There is a different question though, which most people don't ask but you should . Do you self-teach with college? When I was a student, particularly a graduate student with a math econ bent, I tried to self-teach myself the material before the professor covered it in class. There is an idea that understanding something deeply means you can take multiple paths to the subject matter that eventually converge but at the start are not. Self-teaching without college, one is inclined to see fewer paths, maybe only one. That can become a liability in thinking.
Regarding income risk, if your inclinations are to study fields for which there are good paying jobs, then your approach makes a lot of sense. So you should consider a hypothetical. Suppose your primary interest were philosophy. How would have played your cards then? If there are no internships to be had for philosophy students (I don't know this, I'm just guessing about it here) what then? Work that through and you might gain some self-understanding from this exercise.
I agree that it's unlikely one can teach themself without college and become as proficient. As with homework and exams, you can do well in the exams in most classes not having practiced with any homework beforehand, but that's unlikely.
DeleteIndeed, a more thorny issue is that of self-teaching while in college. It's dangerous to attend with a mindset that the classes themself will set you on a path to success. After all, attendance and graduation are the baseline for all of us here. What really matters is the marginal learning you can extract outside of your classes. That really puts you on a different track.
Interestingly, I had a conversation with a friend about whether you can "self-major" in philosophy. I assume now. For one (I have to admit I'm blissfully unaware), I assume there isn't a job market other than in the academia. So college is quite a necessary pathway into that career. On top of that, I simply can't imagine navigating philosophy by yourself. There're so many connections between works of philosophers to be drawn that you *need* someone to congest and present them to you; I doubt there's a way to make those connections by yourself. All of that only contributes to my respect for philosophy majors.