I choose to post an Agnes comment because, let’s face it, she’s hilarious. And I suppose one can draw a stretch of economic connections from this comic’s message, the obvious being themes of incentive and opportunity cost.

As an undergraduate student, I find myself joining clubs and organizations that I don’t care about, and subsequently obtaining leadership positions that I don’t want. And for what? Obviously I need some juice for my grad school application and job resume, right? As Agnes so eloquently recounts, she too acts on this short-run incentive of gaining information that might be useful for, “any job interview conceivable in this lifetime.” And who can’t relate to that? Contrary to what the applications for Student Mentoring or Peer Counseling might claim, incentives are not just those of gaining knowledge, but rather those of grad school acceptance and scholarships (cha-ching).

Incentives have become clear; we attend school and join clubs to gain experience, or better yet, to document that we’ve gained experience. What naturally follows is the opportunity cost of these character-building organizations and clubs that we so graciously lead. Even the notion of Agnes’s true incentive leads her to the principal’s office; already she’s wasted the scarce resource of time. According to Besanko opportunity cost is, “the value of the next best alternative that is forgone when another alternative is chosen.” By choosing to act as president of your fraternity or secretary of your club, not only are you losing the resources of time, money, and effort utilized through performing tasks for your organization, but you are also sacrificing the money, leisure, and time that could be allocated elsewhere. The explicit cost is likely your hourly wage, but the implicit costs fall on a much grander scale. If you’re Kyle, that might include Malibu drinking time; for others costs might be napping, studying, procrastinating, or other crucial aspects of college life.

The point is all collegiate organizations hold intrinsic value for grad school acceptance, etc. but there definitely exists a point where the opportunity costs of said clubs far outweigh the potential benefits. I’m not sure who decides where this point is-probably the individual, but perhaps the board of admissions. Regardless, Agnes raises a valid question here-when did we stop making decisions based on what we want to experience and learn and when did we switch to decision making based on what looks good on paper?