Was it worth it?

Since it was difficult to keep up the volleyball ruse, basketball was the sport that I had played throughout high school and almost in college. I find the decision I made to pursue a college trek centered around academia to be surprisingly wise, or fear-induced. The opportunities that I took, and still take, strongly correlate with the ideals of my parents.

          Retrospectively, I should have taken the opportunities I had been allotted to pursue a collegiate career in basketball, since I, relatively, had little to lose. My runway was long, and if I decided to transfer and take a 5- year path, I would still graduate at 22.

 In the beginning, basketball was only for fun. In some respects, it was a time and monetary investment to my parents, but I did not consciously let their wants influence my decisions. I still play for fun, and I wish I had been more willing to take risks on myself in an effort to play basketball professionally. Quotes often say that courageous, successful, strong people lay everything on the line for their dreams, but those quotes may just come from gamblers that got lucky.

 The marginal enjoyment that I would have reaped, with what knowledge I have about NCAA basketball, would have been way higher than what it was as a freshman in Chemistry trying to transfer into Chemical Engineering, who ultimately chose an entirely different path. I would have picked Economics as my major instead, because it seemed like an easier major. In one token, I would have been ahead academically, but I would not have the time to focus on school as much or join RSOs and become more involved in the university.

          Resumes are important. Even though I haven’t had any “real” jobs, I am sure that a strong one can give me the opportunity of at least an interview. The other day, I was having a conversation with a graduated U of I football player, who majored in RST, and is having a tough time finding employment. He touts his experience as a football player when he speaks with potential employers, but the sport has been his main focus for most of his life. I thought his case was rare, so I spoke with other graduated athletes and learned that they had similar experiences concerning employment. At first, I thought they were underemployed, but what exactly is the professional utility of athletics, outside of the realm of athletics?  

          When I decided that I wanted to take less risks concerning my career, I was either not well informed in the investment banking/ startup culture. With a startup, I could have my hands on a unicorn, but it is more likely that I fail. This past summer, I was in a startup accelerator, and I learned that VCs and Angel investors minimize risk while maximizing reward. Often, a route they take is by investing in companies that they are familiar with. In a sense, this is oxymoronic, because history of American capitalism hints that similar firms may compete and everyone will not last. In a sense, one may see these types of funders as playing the short game, regardless of the size of investment they give.

          From the information that I collected, I was led to believe that the opportunity cost of college athletics is not worth paying, as a student whose family could afford expensive tuition, especially if I ended up making less than the median salary of people in my respective major. I could have made it to the pros, but that is unlikely. From an early age, we are convinced by family and teachers that we can do anything and should follow our dreams, but following dreams tends to be impractical, especially when it comes to business and athletics. The two are alike in the sense of opportunity cost; low risk = low reward and high risk = high reward.