Economics is, in some sense, the study of making decisions in life. Think back over your last week. Provide an example of a time that you optimized during your day-to-day (non-academic) life. Ultimately, optimization is the act of making a choice after considering both benefits and costs. Describe, a choice that you made after you weighed the costs and benefits of the decision. In the description, note both the explicit benefit and the explicit and implicit costs, differentiating monetary costs (if any) from opportunity costs.

Example: If you travel, clearly state the gain you received by traveling. Then explain what it cost you in gas, food, etc. to travel. Then clearly state the opportunity cost of your decision.