I couldn’t agree more! Especially for those still relatively early in their career, increasing income potential early on can have a profound impact long term.
This should be required reading for anyone going into sophomore year. Freshman year can get away from many, but the quicker young people understand that income is primarily driven by W2 employment (or sales volume), the better. Improve your skills significantly while in college and watch your income grow in your late 20’s early 30s.
I think Dr. A knows a little bit about my story and I have a significant percent of my income outside of my W2. Why? I learned the skills to identify good investments. Similar to anyone reading this, I was at a point where I needed to learn new skills. But what I think Dr. A is advocating here is action. Once I learn my analytic skills, I chose to finalize the deals! The time to act is when you are young, not in the middle like me. Focus on improving your income one skill at a time.
I also think Dr. A would agree that you should use skills as foundations. You cannot be a data scientist by just working in Tableau. You must know statistics, probably some form of data cleaning (which requires coding), and communication in order to be effective. Start with one skill, build it out to the role you are looking for. As Dr. A put it, Design the Life You Want. Just remember, every good design is built on a skill set, build the skills and you will build your life.
I also have to plug Florida State's Masters of Applied Economics here. Excellent program and 1/3 of the cost of the UCLA program.
Thank you for sharing your context. The more stories younger generations hear, the better. I will look into the Masters of Applied Economics at FSU. Is it a residential program? I have so many students looking for the next degree and want to give them as many options as possible.
Yes the program is residential. I would have to take a look in 2025, but when I went through it the tuition was about $13k for the year (it is a 1 year program). The last portion allows students to complete a consulting like project which are coordinated by professors with outside companies. Excellent training for young people, but not for the faint of heart. It was tough.
I couldn’t agree more! Especially for those still relatively early in their career, increasing income potential early on can have a profound impact long term.
This should be required reading for anyone going into sophomore year. Freshman year can get away from many, but the quicker young people understand that income is primarily driven by W2 employment (or sales volume), the better. Improve your skills significantly while in college and watch your income grow in your late 20’s early 30s.
I think Dr. A knows a little bit about my story and I have a significant percent of my income outside of my W2. Why? I learned the skills to identify good investments. Similar to anyone reading this, I was at a point where I needed to learn new skills. But what I think Dr. A is advocating here is action. Once I learn my analytic skills, I chose to finalize the deals! The time to act is when you are young, not in the middle like me. Focus on improving your income one skill at a time.
I also think Dr. A would agree that you should use skills as foundations. You cannot be a data scientist by just working in Tableau. You must know statistics, probably some form of data cleaning (which requires coding), and communication in order to be effective. Start with one skill, build it out to the role you are looking for. As Dr. A put it, Design the Life You Want. Just remember, every good design is built on a skill set, build the skills and you will build your life.
I also have to plug Florida State's Masters of Applied Economics here. Excellent program and 1/3 of the cost of the UCLA program.
Thanks, Chris
Thank you for sharing your context. The more stories younger generations hear, the better. I will look into the Masters of Applied Economics at FSU. Is it a residential program? I have so many students looking for the next degree and want to give them as many options as possible.
Yes the program is residential. I would have to take a look in 2025, but when I went through it the tuition was about $13k for the year (it is a 1 year program). The last portion allows students to complete a consulting like project which are coordinated by professors with outside companies. Excellent training for young people, but not for the faint of heart. It was tough.