I first joined the Daily in the spring of my first year at Tufts. I had no idea I would spend the next three years writing for the Daily about everything from flight delay compensation regulations to zoning reform. However, throughout my time writing about economics and policy for the Daily, I always focused on external economic policies and issues. Therefore, as graduation looms, I thought it would be a fun exercise to write my final article for the Daily about economic concepts we encounter in life here at Tufts, starting with optionality.
In economics, optionality can be considered the valuation of flexibility. To increase optionality, one makes choices to widen future options while keeping current ones. In college, there are two common ways to preserve optionality. The first is to try a wide range of clubs or classes, so as not to eliminate professional paths until one is certain they are uninteresting. The second is to avoid premature commitment, such as through double majoring, to keep pathways in different fields open. The reason an eye on optionality is important in college is that switching fields tends to be much more difficult after college. College provides a relatively low-stakes, unique environment of flexibility. However, there is a trap of pursuing optionality: the sunk cost fallacy.
The sunk cost fallacy is the idea that it is hard for us to end things we have invested a lot of time in. This can manifest in staying in a club one doesn’t enjoy to avoid quitting, sticking with a major one isn’t interested in or staying in friendships or relationships that may not be toxic but are not reciprocal or mutually beneficial. However, while ending commitments or relationships is often understandably framed around loss, it can open up new opportunities as well. For example, perhaps by dropping a few clubs, you get to invest more time in the ones you enjoy. Similarly, perhaps you have fewer friends by ending friendships, but quality matters over quantity. Focusing on the hobbies, academic interests and relationships that truly matter in a place where one is bombarded with classes to take, parties to go to and activities to do is difficult, but it is so often worth it.
Finally, I think it is important to reflect on uncertainty. Tufts continues to grow more expensive with every year that passes. As such, we often choose classes, fields and activities based not on interest alone, but on both interest and practicality. However, we are entering a future with increased uncertainty. A report from Anthropic on the labor market impacts of AI found that there is significant AI exposure in formerly stable and typically profitable fields such as business, finance and computer science. The uncertainty of AI disruption in labor markets means that financial upsides of majors like computer science are no longer guaranteed. This does not mean one should ignore the job market or variation in predicted earnings when choosing a field, but it does mean this choice should truly be a mix of interest and practicality, rather than just the latter.
At the end of the day, college is a bubble. It is a world within a world, a place where consistent academic routine and vibrant socialization take center stage. It is a place where one’s primary job is to simply learn and explore, and where one’s closest friends are only minutes away. This doesn’t mean that college is easy. This bubble can often be pierced by financial worries, health struggles or other issues from outside the bubble. However, college is something special: a place where dormitory conversations that run into the early hours of the morning and casual run-ins with friends while going about one’s day are common occurrences. Enjoy every second.
