My Path to FI: Part 2, College Years

My Path to FI: Part 2, College Years

This is my second post in the My Path to FI series.  My goal in this series of posts is to share with you my own personal experiences with money so you can better understand my perspective, as well as tell my own story about how I got to where I am today.  Hopefully, I am able to pass on some of the useful lessons I have learned along the way.  If you haven’t read Part 1: Early years yet, I recommend you start there.  With that, let’s pick up where we left off.

Freshman Year

After graduating from high school in 1997, I started my freshman year at Arizona State University in the fall.  I continued working as a donut packer (making 1 cent per donut) and at the sandwich and ice cream shop (~$8.00/hr at this point) owned by the Smith family.  My tuition and books were fully paid for by merit based scholarships I had received from ASU.  During the summer I had purchased a used Honda Accord with cash from other scholarships.  I continued to live at home, about a 15 minute drive from school, which also helped to save some money.   I was enrolled in primarily general classes that I could apply towards any major since I wasn’t sure quite yet what career path I wanted to go down.  Life seemed pretty good.  

During my freshman year I was introduced to an entirely new aspect of personal finance: credit cards.  As most of you probably know, credit card companies heavily market towards college students.  In retrospect, I really have to question the ethics of these billion dollar companies in doing this.  At the time they were bending the rules by signing up college students without verifiable income or any credit history because the potential reward was so high.  Since then more regulations have been put in place, but probably not enough.  They still target college students because they are financially immature and have a long financial future ahead of them, which translates to many years of interest laden payments.  When a college student receives a credit card and suddenly has the ability to spend $500 or $1000 or more without having to pay more than $20-$30 a month on that purchase, what do you think happens?  Of course, many end up spending beyond their means, and so begins the cycle of buy now/pay later and a lifetime of debt spending.  

I was no different than other college students.  I began receiving offers in the mail for credit cards and saw the tables set up by companies in the common student areas offering a free T-shirt or frisbee if you sign up for a new card.  I have to admit, I was pretty intrigued with credit cards at the time.  They seemed pretty cool, like a symbol you had arrived as an adult, or at least that is what I thought at age 18.  So, did I get one?  No, I did not.  I actually got four of them.  For some reason I thought it would be pretty awesome if I had one of each type of major credit card: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover.  Fortunately, I was educated by my parents and by my grandmother about how credit cards worked.  They taught me that if I paid my balance in full each month, I would not owe any interest, and could begin to build a responsible credit history.  My grandmother also taught me that I could even get some cash back on my Discover card (which was unique at the time, as opposed to today where most cards have some type of rewards program).  So, that’s what I did; I used the cards responsibly and didn’t accrue any debt.  

Full Time Missionary Service

After my freshman year of college I spent two years in Japan as a full time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Prior to leaving I sold my car.  This left me with several thousand dollars from the car, remaining scholarship money, and money saved from work.  I knew I wanted that money to earn interest for me.  I remember walking into my credit union and telling the banker I wanted to put my money into an account for 2 years to earn higher interest than a savings account.  I don’t remember the details of the account I put my money into, but I do remember the interest rates being lower than I expected they would be.  It was higher than my regular savings account, but not much more, and possibly it was less, than the rate of inflation.  My intentions were good, but I didn’t have any education or knowledge at the time to do any better.

My missionary experience was life changing for me.  Like most teenagers/young adults, up to that point in my life I had really only focused on one thing: myself.  My world revolved around what I was going to do for college,what I was going to do for my career, what I was going to do this weekend for fun, what I was going to buy with my next paycheck, etc.  Me, me, me.  I spent very little time or energy thinking about anyone else.  My time as a missionary changed that.  I found myself suddenly only thinking about others and serving them, helping people to improve their lives.  This was a complete 180 degree change from my life before.  The amazing thing was that I was also happier and more fulfilled than before as well.  I learned that some of the greatest joy we can ever find in this life is in the service of others.  

This key lesson was instrumental in choosing medicine as my career.  I was so changed by the fulfillment I had found in serving others, I knew I wanted to do something similar for the rest of my life.  I had also always had an aptitude and love for science.  I remember one spring evening while riding my bike up a hill in Fukuoka, Japan that I put these two together and knew that medicine was what I was supposed to do.

I learned that some of the greatest joy we can ever find in this life is in the service of others.  

Sophomore and Junior Years

I came home from Japan during the summer of 2000 and started back at ASU in the fall.  My full tuition scholarship was held for me while I was away.  I used my scholarship money to buy my books and another used Honda Accord for cash.  I started back up where I had left off packing donuts for, you guessed it, a penny a donut.  So what had changed you might ask?  Well, my whole outlook and understanding of where true happiness was found changed.  I also now had a clear direction of the career I wanted to pursue.  I ultimately decided to major in biochemistry and minor in Japanese (to try and keep up some of my Japanese skills).  

As I progressed in my major, a new job opportunity as a chemistry teaching assistant (TA) presented itself and I seized it.  It was the first time I had ever used my education for my job.  The TA position paid $15/hr, I really enjoyed it, and it was significantly less demanding physically compared to washing dishes or packing donuts.  But I still kept my job packing donuts for the extra income.  

During this period I met and fell in love with my wife.  While choosing to marry her was probably the greatest decision I have ever made and will ever make, I also made a few poor decisions.  When you get married, you have to get a ring.  Rather than choosing a cheaper ring or saving up the money to buy a ring, I purchased one on credit.  It seemed reasonable at the time, but in retrospect, it was a poor financial decision.  I also started to accumulate a little bit of credit card debt.  I can’t even remember what else I purchased, but I know I was getting a little more careless with my money.  But hey, everyone was buying whatever they wanted, why not me?  I deserve it, right?

My wife and I got married during the summer after my sophomore year.  We moved into a little apartment and started our new lives together.  We had decided before getting married to combine our finances (which has been a great decision for us and I’ll write more about that in a future post).  I was continuing to go to school and she was working full time as an office manager after having already finished her college degree.  We decided she would take primary responsibility of the finances since I was still in school.  Needless to say, when she realized I had purchased her wedding ring on credit, and now she had to contribute to help pay it off, it wasn’t my finest moment.  So fellas, a bit of advice . . . don’t have your wife pay off her own wedding ring.  Before I graduated, we worked together to pay off the consumer debt.  

During my junior year, my next step on the path to medicine was taking the Medical College Admission Test, more commonly referred to as the MCAT.  I studied very hard for this test and also took a Kaplan test prep course.  My hard work paid off and I ended up scoring very well.  I immediately went to Kaplan to apply for a job as an MCAT teacher and they hired me . . . and the pay was $25/hr!  I was ecstatic.  I was starting to understand the power of education and the opportunities for higher income it presented.  

Senior Year

My final year of college was quite busy.  I was working three part time jobs as an MCAT teacher, chemistry TA, and a chemistry research assistant, while still maintaining a full time college course schedule.  Our first son was born in December of that year.  I also was in the process of applying to medical schools.  I was fortunate enough to receive invitations to interview at several medical schools and ended up taking out a small subsidized federal student loan to help pay for the travel expenses.  I remember the first acceptance letter I received and the combination of excitement and relief I felt.  As anyone that has been through this process can tell you, there is tremendous relief when you get into your first medical school because now you know that you are actually going to become a doctor.  You’ve made it.  

As it did in high school, my hard work was paying off. I had worked very hard to maintain a 4.0 G.P.A. and I had strengthened my application by obtaining scientific research experience, spending time in multiple hospitals through externships and as a volunteer, and through working multiple part time jobs. As a result, I was lucky enough to receive multiple medical school acceptances. I ultimately decided to go to the Mayo Clinic for medical school due to not only their excellent reputation and education, but also because they offered me a full tuition scholarship.

In the spring of 2003 I graduated summa cum laude with a B.S in Biochemistry and a minor in Japanese with plans to move to Rochester, MN. Our family’s time in the sun was coming to a close and it was time to learn the art and science of medicine.

Conclusion

I matured a great deal during my college years, not only through getting an education, but also through full time missionary service and starting a family.  Here are some of the key lessons I learned along the way:

• Credit cards can be very dangerous if not used responsibly
• Some of the greatest joy we can experience in this life is through serving others
• Education is the key to higher income opportunities
• Hard work always seems to pay off

Thanks for reading My Path to FI: Part 2, College Years.  Hopefully it helped you get to know me a little better and some of the lessons I learned along the way.  Please go on to my next post in the series: Part 3, Medical School.