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Smiling today, struggling tomorrow?
Part of my role as a mental health professional is to build a rapport with kids, typically between the ages of 10 and 18. When I ask them about their goals for the future, most of them say they want to attend college. Our society puts a large emphasis on the importance of acquiring a post high school education. In fact, President Obama recently said that many of the jobs of the future will require at least a Masters degree. I have to wonder though, are high school kids really prepared for college and are the expectations of the powers of the bachelors degree realistic?
In today’s competitive society where we are thankful to just be employed, kids are thinking about college as early as middle school. They have to compete in middle school for the best resume to get them into the best high school which will in turn get them into the best college. Then what? At the age of 17 or 18 we are asked to pick a college and pick a major, which really means choosing the field you will seek work in for the rest of your life. I clearly remember being 18 and not being able to choose what jeans I wanted to wear, let alone what direction to take my career in. Nonetheless, many of us choose blindly based on our hobbies, interests, high school courses, and, well, whatever seems to be the easiest. This is what frequently leads to changing majors, which can be very costly in various ways.
I was lucky enough to start my undergraduate education at a community college. Although many people feel that the community college is of lesser quality than a university, I feel it offered me many benefits. First, I started in my senior year of high school. At my high school graduation I had already completed my entire first year of college. Second, I was able to live at home which saved me money. Plus, with having classes only two days a week, I worked a part-time job and still had plenty of time for my school work. Third, it bought me some time on declaring a major for my bachelor’s degree. Finally, it saved me a lot of money. Thousands. About $32,000 to be exact. Still, the best part was that the degree I received there was good enough to get me into the university of my choice.
So, once we are accepted into the university and find a way to pay for it all (I’ll save my rant about student loans for another time) we are convinced that we are working towards something that will change our lives. We buy the books, try to read them, study, work in groups, write papers, walk to class in the rain, and utilize professor’s office hours to finish up the credits and get out in to the real world. On graduation day there is usually a speech about “endless possibilities” and the “doors that have been opened” by receiving your degree. I remember a month prior to graduating I updated my resume to include my newly acquired degree. I remember the excitement and fantasies about what I could do with my education and how it would better my life.
And then I graduated.
The day after graduation I moved to another state. I had already sent out my resume to several positions in the town I was moving to and was sure it was a matter of time before the phone calls started coming in. Three months later, not one phone call. How could this be? I searched for jobs on the internet and the newspaper. I went to places in person and made phone calls, but nothing.
At the end of the third month, panic began to set in. My student loan bills would be due in three short months, and I would soon fall behind on the credit card bills I racked up on food, clothes, and gas while earning this precious degree. Finally, I got an interview with a bank (my degree is in psychology). Because I had experience as a teller, I was able to score the job. I was thrilled and relieved to have a paycheck coming in.
I went to the first day of the job to find out I would be making $7.00 an hour. I cried. How would I ever repay these loans working at a job that paid less than what I made at my job in high school?
Since then I’ve moved many times and had plenty of jobs. Lucky for me, right now I have one that pays the bills. Mostly. I pay some of my student loans monthly, and others are in deferment. It’s been three years since I graduated college, but feels like an eternity. I don’t hate my job, but I feel that I was promised there would be more “open doors” for me.
What’s even scarier is that the recession is making it even more difficult to find jobs and keep them. I’m not saying college was a mistake, but as high school kids we are rushed in to making big decisions. Now, 7 years after I started college, I feel that I am in a place where I really know what I want to do with my life, and wish I had majored in English. I have a better idea of what my strengths and skills are, and also what areas I need more support in.
Finally, Obama has a good point about jobs requiring a Masters degree. Take a look on Careerbuilder.com. I dare you to find three jobs that require a Bachelor’s degree. There are hardly any. Trust me, I’ve done the research. To those of you just starting your education don’t think of the bachelor’s as the key to your success. Think of it as a stepping stone.
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