Even in College My Mom Helps with Homework

Well I've been thinking about what to post on this blog for a couple weeks now, and I'm going to go ahead and give it my best shot. I figured I would talk about what I understood most from Econ 200: Opportunity Costs.

Back in July of 2008 my mom had to make a big decision, which of course means opportunity costs were involved. One day my mom came to me and told me she was thinking about going to Atlanta to participate in a 3-day walk to raise awareness on breast cancer. This walk would take place in late October. My grandma on my mom's side was a survivor of breast cancer and my aunt on my moms side had passed away from breast cancer in May of 2008, so my mom was a pretty big advocate of breast cancer awareness. Anyway, my mom was getting all excited about how she was going to raise $2,200 to donate to breast cancer awareness so that she could walk in October. A friend of hers from when she was growing up had a mother who passed away from breast cancer when they were kids so she was going to try and get her to walk with her too. She couldn't wait to see her. When my mom reached her most excited state, my brother walked in the door from his 2-a-day football practice. He came to my mom and I and told us that he had been informed from his high school football coach that even though he was a sophomore he would be the starting center for the varsity team in the fall. At first my mom forgot all about her 3-day walk and hugged my brother and such. Doing the typical "I'm so proud of you" speech that every mother loves to give even though we don't care to hear it. Once she settled down a bit I got the chance to tell Tim (my brother) that I would make my best effort to come home for his game against Centerville High School, which was always our biggest rival despite getting beat by them ever since I can remember. When I made this statement my mom's euphoric state quickly went away. She immediately started going through the calendar of the athletic events at my high school to find the date of that Centerville game. I'm sure you all see where this is heading. Sure enough Tim played Centerville during one of the days that my mom would be in Atlanta if she chose to do her 3-day walk.

Now is where the opportunity costs set in. If my mom decides to go to Atlanta she will miss my brothers most important game of the season. She will also miss me taking a trip home from college, which is a fairly rare occurance. Since leaving for college she has seemed to like me much more, and loves every minute she gets to spend with me when I come home. It's weird how much she wants to hang out these days.

Pros to Walking:
-Raising $2,200 for Breast Cancer
-Self satisfying feeling that she has done her part
-Receives praise from friends and family for taking the initiative to get my family on board with breast cancer awareness
-Saves money that she would have spent taking me out to dinner while i was home
-Gets to see her childhood friend for first time in a long time

Costs of Walking:
-Misses my brother's first ever Centerville game
-Upsets my brother because she never missed a single soccer game of mine for all four years
-Misses me making my once-a-quarter trip home
-Cost of a round trip plane ticket to Atlanta

After weighing all of her options, she made the decision to go to Atlanta and walk for a cause she believed in. After raising $2,200 she boarded a plane in October and walked 60 miles in the rain wearing pink, carrying signs, and enjoying every minute of it. She also got her friend on board with the idea, so she had a fun time seeing her. Her decision was definitely a good one because my brother's team got destroyed, and I was only home for the 2 hours that my brother was playing.

My mom enjoyed her experience so much that she has already begun raising money for the 3-day walk next October in San Diego. She has also gotten her sister to join her this year.