The reading level for this article is Novice
During my one year of college so far I have learned a lot. A lot about myself, a lot about the world, a lot about business, and a lot about people. Here is a listing of both the academic and non-academic things I have learned.
Most Important Academic Things I’ve Learned in College
1. Financial statement analysis
2. Double-entry accounting
3. Venture capital deal structure
4. The Concept of the Freudian Id and Superego
5. Classical and Operant Conditioning
6. Calculus: Derivatives and Integrals – A Derivative is the slope of a function
7. What a Standard Deviation is
8. Time value of money
9. If two possible outcomes have same expected value, the outcome with less variability (and hence less risk) will be preferred
10. Learning from Political Ideologies and the Democratic Ideal
11. The basics about Western History before 1700 including the Roman Empire, Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter Reformation
12. High correlation between variables does not mean causation
Most Important Non-Academic Things I’ve Learned in College
1. How to speak in front of a large audience without shaking or being nervous
2. How to incorporate a company.
3. If I had all the money in the world, college is exactly where I would want to be.
4. You decide whether you are happy are not.
5. One has to invest time in order to have friends.
6. The importance of relationships and friendships.
7. It is often the little things that count.
8. Just improve a little bit each day. It will compound.
9. I am a work in progress. Learn from mistakes and improve.
10. What is on your belief window is extremely important. Constantly analyze critically what is on your belief window. More often than not, it is psychologically unhealthy and wrong to be cynical.
11. Life goes on.
12. Humans are merely advanced animals. They have the same primal desires and learn in the same basic way.
13. Bread molds when you don’t put the twisty tie back on
14. In order to avoid breakage when attempting to hard-boil an egg, place the egg in the water before it is hot.
15. How to play beer pong.
16. How to relax without feeling guilty.
Most Important Things I Learned Before College
1. Speaking, Reading, Writing the English Language
2. Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication, and Division
3. The Scientific Method
4. The supply and demand model
5. The Pythagorean Theorem
6. The essential elements of American and World History
7. Speaking, Reading, and Writing the Spanish Language
If you find that there is anything in the above list that you have not yet fully mastered, I’d encourage you to look into that subject or area. I feel that all of the above knowledge will be essential during my life as an entrepreneur and economist.
