Caroline Paulsen, Chapter 6, Question 1

In Chapter 6, Charles Wheelan points out the primary purpose of education— to gain skills that make you a valuable piece of human capital. For the past couple years, I have been trying to figure out how to structure my schedule so that I can do just that. From elementary school to my sophomore year of high school, my theory was usually "homework first"— in my case, this often meant getting homework done before practicing cello. However, sometime around the end of sophomore year or the beginning of junior year, I became certain that I wanted to major in music (or attend a conservatory) and become a professional musician. This decision made me rethink for the first time how I should prioritize my time to gain the skills that I need. I realized that to get into college and be a musician, having plenty of time to practice is more important than completing homework first. I ended up learning to schedule practice time and do homework around it so that the skills that I need the most became a priority.