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Substitution and Monpoly

Shixian Gao #Id:18461144

As a student of University of California Irvine we all know that there are two drinking stores in UTC, cha for tea and snow monster, they are some kind of substitution. But there are still some differences between these two drinking store. And I will use these two stores to explain some important principles of economic.

We can see that there always is a long line in front of the cha for tea, because it has some marketing strategies, such like it can add boba into the drinking and has many different kinds of drinking, such like milk tea, fruit tea and smoothies. Also it affords some snacks for customers, such like sweet potato chips and dumplings. However snow monster only make milk tea, therefore cha for tea has more advantages in this competitive market.

And because these two drinking stores are substitution, their prices are controlled by each other. If snow monster increases it price for milk tea, people will choose to buy milk tea from cha for tea. And if cha for tea rise price, it will induce people buy snow monster instead. Although, cha for tea has more marketing advantages than snow monster, but it price still keep consistent.

And there is another situation, last year, cha for tea started shut down for several months to decorate. During that time, they decided stop running. When cha for tea close door a little time for restore, snow monster become a monopoly of boba mike tea in utc. Therefore it demand will rapidly increase and during that time snow monster can rise price for single cup, because students have no other choice, they are price taker now. This explains the definition and feature of the Monopoly. Also this phenomenon can also explain by definition of complements and substitutions. Because cha for tea and snow monster are absolutely substitution, if cha for tea stop running a little time, the demand of its substitution must be increase. Although snow monster do not have boba, people still would like to buy it, because there is only one substitution sale mike tea in utc.

My Market Demand For Ice Cream

Hunter Fierro-ID:8712399

This video focuses on how a substitute good for ice cream such as yogurt can influence the Market Demand for the given product (ice cream). Substitute goods and other various factors all influence our decisions when participating in the market for a specific good, and in turn affect the overall increase or decrease in demand for a good. I was the only one involved in the product of this good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw4ANd9tvp0

Thinking Economically

aka thinking akonomically

Akon- Don’t Matter

Nobody wanta' see us together

But it don't matter, no ('cause I got you babe)

Nobody wanta' see us together

But it don't matter, no ('cause I got you babe)

Cause we gonna fight, oh yes, we gonna fight (we gonna fight)

Believe we gonna fight (we gonna fight)

Fight for our right to love, yeah (right to love, yeah)

Nobody wants to see us together

But it don't matter, no ('cause I got you)

Akon was criticized for wanting to be with his girl. He could have listened to his friends, who all oppose the relationship. But the opportunity cost of listening to what everyone was saying was too high- he would lose the the one he loves and satisfaction of being with her. But being with his girl also came with the opportunity cost of the approval of his friends…. He ultimately decides that being with his girl was more worth it.

I constantly weigh the opportunity costs of things I want before pursuing them. Most recently, I had to decide whether or not I wanted to study abroad in Korea at Yonsei University for Fall 2017. Here’s how I arrived at my economically decision:

Opportunity cost of studying abroad:

My favorite band in the entirety of the universe is Portugal. The Man. They are having a concert this summer at the Hollywood Palladium on July 29. If I studied abroad in Korea, I would spend the summer there before the actual start of the term in order to spend time with family. This means I would not be able to go to this highly anticipated show… especially because they are going to release a new album soon and have already revealed 2 new singles.

One of my best friends is turning 21 in the summer and we all know what that means... I would be in Korea and unable to join my friends for her birthday celebration. And I would suffer majorly from fomo (fear of missing out) :’-(

Explicit cost of studying abroad:

One semester in Yonsei University costs $7,000, and an additional $6,650 is approximated for housing and supplies. I am estimating that I spend $600 per month for recreational use, and I plan on staying for around 6 months. This gives me a total average cost of $17,250.

Opportunity cost of staying:

Korea is my heritage and so it has always been my dream to experience life there. I have visited family there a couple of times, but living for a few months by myself is completely different from the frivolity of vacation. I want to engage in independence and challenge myself to an environment that I am familiar but not comfortable with. If I chose not to go, I would be letting go of a DREAM.

Korea has the most amazing food ever, and eating delicious food gives me purpose in life. Just thinking about all the things I can eat makes me salivate, and I would have to give all this food up if I don’t go…

I’ve been struggling with the routine of things in my life here as a college student. I am in desperate need of a change in environment and a temporary escape from all the problems that exist here. If I don’t go abroad, I feel like my soul will continue to deteriorate…

Explicit cost of staying:

Half a year at UCI costs about $15,200. I spend around $600 per month recreationally. My total average cost would be 18,800.

After careful consideration of both implicit and explicit costs, I decided to study abroad for the fall. Besides, I’ve already seen Portugal. The Man live twice and they are bound to hold more concerts in the future when I come back. And I can always celebrate my best friend’s milestone another day. Choosing to go abroad sounds like an obvious decision, but believe me, I hesitated the moment the concert date was announced.

I am still pretty bummed about not being able to go to the concert… but a couple weeks ago, another one of my favorite bands Honne suddenly announced a show at the Roxy Theatre for April 21. I figured I would purchase tickets after I got out of work… that was a naive idea. They immediately sold out that morning. I did not realize that their popularity had increased since the release of their first full album, thus increasing the demand for the show tickets.

Tickets were $20 each and the venue only holds 500 people. But with their increased popularity, there are bound to be hundreds of more fans wanting to see Honne live in the Los Angeles area. Therefore, there was a shortage of tickets available for purchase. If they had increase the ticket prices, then there would be less people willing to go to the concert and a higher chance that I would have been able to purchase tickets.

But the concert tickets are more complicated than that because the market for live shows demonstrate monopolistic competition. This is because:

There are many sellers. There seem to be an infinite number of bands and artists who like to perform their music live, so all of these musicians compete for the same group of customers, who are people who enjoy seeing and hearing live shows.

There is product differentiation. The wonderful thing about music is its limitless combination of sounds and rhythms that makes each song unique. Every artist will perform a concert that is at least slightly different from the concerts of other artists, resulting in a downward sloping demand curve.

Artists can enter and exit the music industry at their will until the profits in the long run equal zero.

Honne’s electro/ indie pop music is very popular these days and so there are bound to be more bands who produce this kind of music. So hopefully more bands will enter the market so the demand for their concert will decrease and make it easier for me to get a hold of these tickets...even though it may take a while.

Sunny Kim (13793328)

David Borjon ID: 50349120 and Shireen Mahdavi ID: 16675008

In our video, we discuss a few economic concepts and how they are used in our everyday lives. We discuss the four types of goods (private, club, public, and common resources), substitutes, compliments, and incentives.

Private Goods – Private Goods are goods that are both excludable and rival in consumption. For example, David paid for a Thai tea with boba. This product is excludable because there is a cost that has to be incurred to buy the boba and the product is rival in consumption because once David drinks it, no one else can have the same drink he has.

Club Goods – Club Goods are goods that are both excludable but not rival in consumption. In the video, Shireen and David watch cable TV. Cable TV is excludable because David and Shireen pay for it, but it is not rival in consumption because when one person watches cable TV, it does not impact another person’s ability to watch cable TV.

Public Goods – Public Goods are goods that are neither excludable nor rival in consumption. Shireen and David drive on the 55 freeway, which is not excludable because anyone can use the freeway without incurring costs. The 55 freeway is also non rival in consumption because, when there is no traffic, someone using the freeway will not affect another person using the same freeway.

Common Resources – Common Resources are goods that are not excludable but are rival in consumption. Fishing in a public lake is an example of a common resource. In the video, Shireen is fishing. Anyone can fish in the same lake as Shireen, but nobody can catch the same fish that she caught. Therefore, fishing is not excludable but is rival in consumption.

Substitutes – Substitutes occur when two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to an increase in the demand for the other. In the video, Shireen buys an iced chai tea latte at both Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Since both are similar products and due to the disparity in price, Shireen substitutes Coffee Bean for Starbucks.

Compliments – Compliments occur when two goods for which an increase in the price of one leads to a decrease in the demand for the other. In the video, David goes shopping for cereal. David only eats cereal with milk. If cereal is too expensive, he will not buy milk or cereal. However, if he finds cereal at a reasonable price, he will buy both cereal and milk.

Incentives – An incentive is something that induces a person to act. Arnold Schwarzenegger is David’s bodybuilding idol. In the video, Shireen holds up a picture of Arnold in front of David as an incentive to keep benching so David can look like Arnold one day.

Hitting the Gym vs. Hitting the Books

Tiffany Yu - #47179261

For college students, it’s easy to ignore personal health and fitness due to an overwhelming amount of responsibilities. From classes to schoolwork to part-time jobs, it’s hard to find enough time in the day to take care of yourself besides eating and sleeping. When push comes to shove, it’s easy to disregard exercise for studying or socializing in situations of scarcity of time (which is pretty much all the time). As a first year student, I am still learning to manage my time with the increased freedom and responsibility that comes with living away from home.

One thing that I’ve struggled with is finding time and motivation to work out and go to the Anteater Recreation Center (ARC). By some miracle, in week 10, my friend motivated me to join her at the ARC and exercise. My friend convinced me to workout with her and complete Kayla Itsine’s Bikini Body Guide (BBG) exercises. Australian trainer and Instagram star Kayla Itsine is famous for her transformational exercise program.

This past week, I spent approximately 1.5 hours each day going to the ARC to workout and complete the BBG exercises. This time frame included driving to the ARC, gathering the equipment, performing the workout, and driving back from the ARC. Although the monetary cost of working out and completing the BBG program is the $53.67 for the PDF guide as well as fees included in tuition to use the ARC, the opportunity cost to be fit is much greater.

In the time that I spent associated with doing the BBG program, I could have spent this time towards the next best alternative which would be studying for finals which are rapidly approaching. My opportunity cost of doing BBG at the ARC this week has been 4.5 hours of studying. I gave up this studying and review time for finals because the personal benefit of working out outweighed the cost. Exercising and doing the BBG program relieves stress and anxiety that can be associated with studying and school. In addition, the endorphins that are released as a result of exercise improve concentration and memory so the fewer hours spent studying are more efficient.

Although I must give up a few hours per week that could be spent studying for finals, I become more fit and active by going to the ARC to do my BBG workouts. The benefits outweigh both the monetary and opportunity costs and so that is why I decided to go to the gym with my friend this week. Even though there is an extreme scarcity of time in my schedule due to the hustle of week 10, I accepted the opportunity cost which is more time to study, in order to complete BBG.

What Advertisements Indicate About Product Quality

Hello there! My name is Elizabeth Brodish (my UCI name is 62755802) and I am going to provide an example of different brands, their products and what the amount of advertising they do indicates!

Our example has to do with paper towels. I buy them. You buy them. If you ever have wondered why some are more expensive than others, you have come to the right place! For this example will analyze characteristics of Bounty Paper Towels and Target Brand Paper Towels!

This is a screenshot of the prices and ratings of Bounty and Target Brand paper towels from target.com.

The first things we see standing out are the price differences and the ratings.

Questions to ask ourselves:

- What do we assume from the fact that Target Brand paper towels are cheaper?

- What do we assume from Bounty’s higher rating overall?

Let’s keep these questions in mind when we analyze the amount of advertising each brand utilizes.

Commercials: I was going to provide a link to a Bounty ad and then talk about how I could not find a Target commercial that targeted (get it?) their brand of paper towel, but after looking hard into the depths of Youtube, I have found a poor quality commercial recorded with somebody’s phone (It had an adorable dog though)... so I put in TWO Bounty commercials to prove my point!

Bounty commercial number one:

Bounty commercial number two:

Target commercial number one:

What to think about:

Most of us know there are many more Bounty commercials than the two I provided. Although I could not find an exact number of all Bounty commercials ever made, there is a list of 31 Bounty commercial advertisements on

https://www.ispot.tv/brands/dWA/bounty

It is safe to say that this is much more than the amount of Target paper towel commercials, even if there are any I missed.

What we can draw from this:

Providing these commercials was my attempt at demonstrating the concept of “Advertising as a Signal of Quality”. A firm will advertise more if they know that once someone sees their product and tries it, they will continue to use it over again. This is what “Advertising as a Signal of Quality” means. A brand that knows it does not stack up to be as great as another probably will not advertise as much and instead provide their product at a lower price, since their product of lower quality did not cost as much to make as the higher quality product.

The Bounty paper towel brand has many more television ads than Target brand paper towels. We can assume that Bounty is the higher quality paper towel when analyzing the amount of television ads there are vs. the amount for Target.

Evidence that also supports this claim can be found in the two questions we asked ourselves back at the beginning of this post!

- What do we assume from the fact that target brand paper towels are cheaper?

Since target brand paper towels are listed cheaper than the Bounty brand, we know that Target did not use as many resources in making their paper towels. We can assume they spend less money building their product than Bounty! Since Target did not put as much effort into their product as Bounty, we their product does not have the quality Bounty does. This makes sense with the amount of television advertising both firms have done.

- What do we assume form Bounty’s overall higher rating?

We can assume that people who used Bounty paper towels were MORE satisfied with their experience than those who used Target brand. Considering that overall experience is directly affected by quality of the product, we can assume that Target brand is the the product with less quality. This makes sense with the amount of advertising they use compared to Bounty.

Supply and Demand of Sneaker Reselling

Jeffrey Lin #51072695

I recent hobby I picked up here at UCI is buying sneakers, I would regularly check the prices and availability of some of my most coveted sneakers. I think that the topics I have learned in Econ this quarter helps explain some of the prices of these sneakers. Because many of these sneakers are limited it is hard to get them in stores for retail price. Most of the time people get these sneakers from resellers. Sneaker reselling has become a big business in recent years and has created quite a substantial market. This market is perfect for applying the ideas I have learned in Econ because it is very close to a prefect competition market. The sneaker reselling market is relatively free from the restrictions that other markets may have since the reselling market is made of every individual instead of big companies or firms. To me there is a very beautiful simplicity to this market. To see how the supply and demand affects the price of the product. I looked at many different sneakers. However I primarily looked at sneakers from Adidas and Nike because I am more interested in them. First I looked at how limiting the quantity or the supply of the shoe affected the price. The interesting thing I found was that two similar shoes can have a big price difference if one is limited and the other is not. For my example, I chose Jordan 1 Satin (Banned) and the Jordan 1 Bred. These two products are extremely similar, the only difference is the slight difference in the shade of red and the quantity supplied. Because of that one can assume that the demand for these products is very similar if not the same. The affect of limiting the quantity supplied can be easily shown on a supply and demand graph. As seen on the graph the lower supply curve of the Jordan 1 Satin results in a much higher price than that of Jordan 1 Bred. Next I looked at how demand affects the price of a product. To do this I used two different colorways of the Adidas NMDs. The sneakers I chose has same amount of quantity supplied, however there is a gap in the equilibrium price. I chose the Core Black Lush Red and the Blue White colorways of the NMDs. Because the Black NMD is much more popular and sought after it has a higher demand curve than the blue sneaker. This effects the price of the shoe as shown in the graph. Next I looked at how the equilibrium price was determined. I looked at a sneaker reselling site called Stock X that allows individuals to sell and bid for sneakers. By looking at each individual ask and bid I was able to see the supply and demand schedule. Each individual bid and ask eventually makes up the supply and demand curve.

I find it fascinating how the invisible hand works on markets like the sneaker reselling market. It is almost as if consumers and producers got together and agreed on a price for each sneaker. I realized that the price of a sneaker being resold is determined by the combined perceived value of all the buyers in the market.

Bigger Feet Isn’t Always A Bad Thing!

Fiona Gee #88198325

Having bigger feet isn’t always bad!

The most popular shoe sizes for American women typically falls in the size 6.5-7.5 range. These are the sizes that we see sold out first in many shoe stores because the demand for them is so high. Women who have smaller or larger feet don’t have as hard of a time finding shoes that come in their size because their shoe size lies outside of the average, therefore the demand is lower.

A perfect example of this situation is exemplified in a Charlotte Russe shoe sale that occurred recently. In the photo below, we can see that the only size left for this black pair of heels is a size 8 (I have circled this in red). Since a majority of women are sizes 6.5-7.5, it is not surprising that those sizes are completely sold out.

I myself am a size 8, which is slightly larger than average in comparison to my peers and all my friends. A downside to this is that I can never borrow shoes from any of my friends because most of them are either a size 6 or a size 7. But, when it comes to buying shoes on sale, I suppose that I am in luck. Due to the demand of larger sizes being lower than the demand for the average shoe size, I have more opportunities to buy the shoes that I want because there is a higher chance that my size would be in stock.

In the photo below, I have again circled the available shoe sizes in red.

Because I am a size 8, I was lucky enough to be able to purchase a pair of these heels while they were on sale. I have been wanting them for a while and when I found out that they were on sale, I was afraid that my size would run out. But fortunately for me, demand for larger-sized shoes are not nearly as high as the demand for smaller/average-sized shoes. I have included a screenshot below of my purchase confirmation for these shoes. (You can see that the product description as well as price matches the shoe!)

This is a photo of my first time wearing the heels - having bigger feet isn’t always bad! :)

Qinmei Yu (16932155) I like to travel, and flight tickets are one of the things I have to consider when I plan my trips...

This Little Anteater Went to the Market

By CARLYSSA OLIVAREZ (ID: 34191757)

This little anteater had avocados, and this little anteater had none. And this little anteater cried “zot, zot, zot” all the way home.

About a month ago, I had all of the fixings for the homemade equivalent of a Chipotle bowl. However, I lacked the one topping worth paying extra for – guacamole. And so, my quest for avocados began.

Luckily, since it was a Saturday, the local Farmer’s Market was open right across the street at the neighborhood church. (Literally, right across the street. Super convenient!) While there, I took in the sweet smell of fresh fruit, the sound of local talent, and yes, the principles of economics hidden amongst the rows of product.

I walked with purpose pursuing the perfect avocado. Zigzagging past potential buyers. Vendors were located to my left and right, chanting out their product and offering samples.

“Tomatoes.”

“Peaches.”

“Oranges.”

“Try one!”

Then all at once it became overwhelming. There were boxes of red and yellow, boxes of red and green, boxes of green and yellow; you get the point. All of these similar products at different tables were all at similar prices. Now I realize that this is due to a perfect competitive market. The sellers have no reason to charge less than the going price, however they are unable to charge more without possibly losing buyers to another stand. Thus, the sellers are price takers, because the competitive market determines the price.

As I continued along the row of tables, I noticed that peaches and nectarines were constantly placed side by side. If I had to take an educated guess as to why, I would have to say it is because they are substitutes. Furthermore, to back up this assumption, at one table in particular the seller had the nectarines priced higher than the peaches. Consequently, his nectarines became lonely as there were very few peaches left in the box beside them.

Goods with close substitutes, like nectarines and peaches, have more elastic demand. Meaning a small increase in nectarines, assuming peaches are fixed, causes the quantity of nectarines to fall by a large amount, since peaches can easily substitute them. Which is exactly what happened at the man’s stand. (However, since avocados are less elastic, for they do not have a direct substitute, a price raise will not cause a large decrease in quantity demanded).

Finally, after passing the boxes full of vibrant orange, yellow, and red I saw green. I went to the market with the intention, or willingness, to pay ten dollars for two avocados. After browsing around for about five minutes I found the best deal. I bought two big, (each avocado was the size of two store bought), ripe, clean avocados for six dollars. Therefore, since I was willing to pay ten dollars but only paid six dollars, my consumer surplus was four dollars. (I saved enough for two one-hour UCI parking permits. Woot, woot!)

My quest was finally complete. I found, bought, and prepared the avocados for my meal. I was satisfied with the way my day went and the product bought. My opportunity cost for said product would have been going to Pavilions to buy pre-made guacamole for fifteen dollars per container. (That’s without factoring in the cost of gas it would take to go there and back, and/or the time to complete the errand).

Above is a picture, courtesy of GimmeDelicious, that resembles the finished dish sans guacamole. (What was she thinking?!)

So there it is. As I scrapped the last remnants out of the bowl I was reminded how: the Farmer’s Market is pure competition (perfect competitive market), the buyers and sellers are price takers, the organization of food often pairs substitutes near one another, the demand shifts with price change, and the way a product can be more or less elastic. I was happy with my four-dollar consumer surplus, however I would be more than willing to pay extra for such a delicious irreplaceable topping. I guess that’s why Chipotle gets away with charging extra!

Consumer Willingness to Pay

Chance Hernandez (41897514)

Being a commuter, expenses such as gas, car repairs, and food begin to add up quickly. In order to cover these expenses, I got a part time job at the 99 Cent Store starting in December. Even before taking this economics course, I began to notice a familiar pattern with customers and prices for items that exceed 99 cents. Now that the end of the course is coming near, I have learned that the economic principle of consumer willingness to pay is the perfect principle to explain this pattern that I have noticed with customers.

The 99 Cent Store is the perfect place to come if you are looking for a cheap deal. Items ranging from bath supplies, food, gardening tools, toys, candy, and many more are available for sale for just a dollar. Many of these items are the same ones that you can find in other stores but for a cheaper price. I have seen some items sold for $10 at stores such as Target or Walmart and I would come into work seeing the same item on our shelves for 99 cents. Therefore, those who are looking to save a couple bucks come to our store, because they end up leaving with a consumer surplus for the items they purchase here rather than somewhere else. Although the name of our store states that everything in there will be 99 cents, this is sadly too good to be true and there is often a misconception with customers. Many other items in the store can range from $1.99 to $4.99, and even though it is clearly stated on the item that the price is not 99 cents, many customers fail to realize this.

This principle of consumer willingness to pay becomes evident when customers are at the register checking out their items. More often than not, customers will not realize that the items they are planning to purchase exceed 99 cents and will refuse to buy them at their actual price. I quickly learned that is a good habit to notify the customer when an item rings up higher than their excepted price to avoid conflicts. This principle applies mostly to those customers who are on a low budget, as the other group of customers still continue to acquire a consumer surplus for the items that even exceed 99 cents.

Qinmei Yu (16932155) I like to travel, and flight tickets are one of the things I have to consider when I plan my trips...

When thinking about our Econ Live project my partner Austin Wilmot (ID# 84717760) and I, Tyler Schiller (ID# 61898020), got talking about a lot of different options. We eventually diverged from econ talk and began to talk about our lives, and we started discussing our current dating situations. Then the thought came up, hey, why not make an econ love song? Austin and I both enjoyed music and Austin also said he has written poems in the past, so together we wrote this song. It’s maybe not economically accurate with the definitions that we give some of the keywords, but I hope it brings across that everything in our lives is related to economics, even love.

Lyrics:

Demand for her was too high

Couldn’t keep up with Supply

My heart was in a shortage

Tried to take some friend’s advice

But we couldn’t reach EQ price

Now in the Long-Run I’m lonely

They’ve got a Tax on love

Leaves me with Dead Weight Loss

For there isn’t love

Unless the two lines cross

Now I don’t want to start a Rivalry

Cause your love’s got Excludability

Yeah why is is so Scarce

I guess your love was too Competitive

Too many Barriers to Entry

Into your heart

They’ve got a Tax on love

Leaves me with Dead Weight Loss

For there isn’t love

Unless the two lines cross

Demand for her was too high

Couldn’t keep up with Supply

My heart was in a shortage

#econlovesong

Opportunity Cost

My name is Joseph Kung and I grew up in the Bay Area. Because of this, I regularly make trips to the Bay Area to visit family and friends as a break from school. I usually have two options which include driving or flying. In order to make my decision, I have to consider the opportunity cost that goes with each decision.

For the case of driving, on average, a normal one way trip will cost a full tank of premium gas (20 gallons) at 21 mpg in my car. In addition, it takes and average of 6.5 hours to drive one way. Assuming $3 per gallon of premium gas, this will result in $60 one way or $120 round trip.

On the other hand, prices for flights vary depending on the day selected. I randomly selected a weekend in April and the results are shown. On average, the flight has a duration of one hour. However, I usually arrive at the airport two hours early to be sure I do not miss my flight. This adds up to three hours spent traveling per flight and 6 hours round trip.

Departing (Santa Ana to San Francisco):

Returning (San Francisco to Santa Ana):

Now to consider opportunity cost, we must consider that I work at a restaurant with an average hourly wage of $20 per hour. Assuming that the time spent traveling is time lost working, I would lose $20 for every hour I am traveling.

Opportunity cost of Driving:

Since I spend 13 hours driving round trip, I could be making $260 working.

Opportunity cost of Flying:

Since I spend 6 hours flying round trip, $120 working.

As you can see, the opportunity cost of driving is significantly higher than flying. Even though the prices for plane tickets may be a little more expensive, the time saved that could be put towards working and earning money is significant. However, this is for the case that I book plane tickets in advance.

If the cost of buying plane tickets exceeds $260 round trip:

[Total cost of driving ($380) - Opportunity cost of flying ($120)] = $260

Then, driving would be a better option to save money.

Joseph Kung

54278337

Opportunity Cost

My name is Ellissya Andino and I play for the women’s soccer team at UC Irvine. Being a student athlete has a lot of stress and pressure that comes to it. Not only are student athletes are required to excel in their sport, but they are also required to excel in the classroom as well. I feel that many normal students think that athletes take the classroom side of things for granted, well I am here to tell you that is not true at all!

One concept I would like to discuss that I feel relates to me specifically is opportunity cost. Opportunity cost is the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen. Here are a few different scenarios of me going about my daily life playing for the Women’s Soccer Team here at UC Irvine. I will write out these scenarios and then explain what the opportunity cost will be.

Traveling to UC Davis to play their women’s soccer team on the day of my Math 2B midterm. What would be the opportunity cost of this?

Having to take late night classes to work around my training schedule. What is the opportunity cost of this?

Summer starts in early June, but I have to be back at UC Irvine to train at the beginning of August. What would be the opportunity cost of this?

Answer to 1: Most likely, professors will have athletes proctor the exam which means I would have to take the exam at the hotel I would be staying in and my coach would have to time me and watch me take the exam obviously to make sure I do not cheat. There is a major opportunity cost here. That is, I would have to take the exam earlier than the rest of the class which means I would have less time to study for the exam as well as I will not be in the classroom setting when taking the exam which could also have an affect on my test performance. The answer here would be taking the exam earlier which means less study time for me.

Answer to 2: The opportunity cost of having late night classes would be giving up to take the earlier classes and getting class out of the way which would open up more time for me to study. But, since I usually have training either in the afternoon or early in the morning, it is quite difficult to find classes to take earlier in the day. Even though athletes do have priority enrollment for classes, it is very likely that we will have to take some of the classes at the worst times.

Answer to 3: Since summer usually goes from the beginning of June to the end of September, I really only get just a little over a month of summer before I have to come back to UC Irvine and start pre season training for the fall season. The opportunity cost here would be losing an extra month and a half of vacation time that could be spent in another country, with my family, etc.

After taking these situations into consideration, I hope you understand that student athletes do not take education for granted. Although we may seem tired in class, do not hesitate to talk to us! Especially me, I may seem tired from practice but if you speak to me then without a doubt I will talk to you!

Ellissya Andino

15011958

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