[pic via monorailkatze]
The Lost Generation. This is what they call my people; this is what they call my kin. The Lost Generation. A bunch of rambunctious, determined, well-to-do kids who listened to our parents, our mentors, & our guidance counselors. We all took the biggest gamble of our lives; we decided to go to college. And now we’re paying for it. Literally.
Then it was simple. Get good grades, maintain, & add in a pinch of extracurricular just for spice. Survive the 9 Circles, aka admissions, and make it into somewhere halfway decent. If you’re lucky. This was at a time when there were systems in place that made the cost of college manageable. But alas, that was before OUR time. Rather than taking the time to find funding, too many of us have simply rushed into this new endeavor, ignoring the true costs of an education. Even if you make it through this minefield called college, there’s no guarantee you’ll find work. That makes it kinda hard to pay one’s bills, or those naughty lil’ student loans for that matter.
For now, I am one of the lucky few. I have a decent-paying job, and while I do not have a degree, I’m keeping my college debt down and paying it off little by little, each passing day. Yet to watch my friends and associates continue to struggle…these are people I have cooked for, walked with, & shared secrets around. These are not numbers & figures, these are REAL people! Some called them yesterday’s future, others today’s problem. Other still would tout tomorrow’s forgotten. And while I will not tolerate this, this is a debt that cannot be paid off in quick order, by any means.
It will TAKE cunning, and perseverance. It will REQUIRE students to understand finance before they step foot into such a life-altering change. It will NEED parents who will research which schools are good, as opposed to which schools are good for themselves. Above all else, it will MANDATE colleges and the gatekeepers who lend the funds to these academic treasures to change their standards so that everyone can benefit from the system. Not just the people in charge of it.
On January 27th, 2010, at President Obama’s 1st ‘State Of The Union’ address, our president said, quote, “No one should go broke because they chose to go to college!” To hear someone of that stature make such a bold statement gives me some hope, because it means someone’s listening. I just hope the bite is as loud as the bark. Because if you think ‘A’ lost generation is bad, imagine how bad it’s going to get if things stay the way they are.
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Yea, if I'd known what it would cost down the road, I definitely would've spent differently my 1st few years in college.
I have to agree with you that it is up to the students to decide what college they want to pursue.
I also agree with you in your statement that “It will REQUIRE students to understand finance before they step foot into such a life-altering change.” I did not have a finance class in high school, but after taking a personal finance class my freshman year in college, I am now a firm believer that personal finance should be taught in high schools across America. Maybe, in doing so, we could prevent our nation from going into more debt!!
Lori,
I have done plenty of research, in fact my own father works in the private sector and contracts to the government through them. I'm an up and coming college graduate within the next year or two and I completely understand what is going on in the job market between the government and the private sector. I'm not saying it's a perfect idea but if it keeps college graduates off unemployment right out of college and adds to the economy, why not do it for a few years?
I highly doubt our government would be stupid enough to put huge limitations on the jobs. Now, saying that, I'm sure there will be some, and I'm sure there will be stipulations about how long you have to keep that job as well. But if it keeps more people off unemployment right out of college and fills jobs that need to be filled anyway, I don't see a huge problem with this. Government benefits, even before this health care bill (which is a whole other topic), have almost always been generally better than private companies' benefits. My friend and her husband, their monthly medication bill went from $300 to a mere $50 when they started getting their health insurance through the county. As far as limits on the number of hire-es per job, I'm sure there will be limits, they need to keep the job markets competitive but there are more than enough jobs now that need to be filled in the government but there aren't enough people out there that are qualified to fill them.
Kari, I am very much aware of how much the government has encroached upon what should be free enterprise. I encourage you to do a little research on the growth of government jobs at the expense of the private sector.
But be careful what you wish for… the President's statement is that he would forgive loans for those that choose public service as their profession. But what if your dream is to be a software developer? or an architect of fine homes? or a ballet dancer? Why should some dreams be rewarded with loan forgiveness and not others? As I stated before, a very slippery slope.
Taking that into consideration, if the forgiveness idea became viable, do you think there'd be limitations as to which jobs would grant forgiveness and/or how many hires those jobs would be allowed?
Well observed. I don't think he can fix it, but for him to pull a card like that means someone's listening. And before anyone can do anything, a problem has to be acknowledged (even if it's staring everyone else in the face).
Lori,
I don't think you understand just how many government jobs are out there that have nothing to do with politics. The NSA is government and they hire all different majors from linguists to meta physicists. The police, schools, public hospitals, those are all considered government/state jobs. That isn't socialism. Before you start freaking out about the United States becoming like France or Canada, learn what socialism is and check out just how many career paths students can take to get a job with our government without working for Congress.
I feel horrible for young folks in your position. However, do not fall for the words of our President which are intended to make you feel good and garner the support of young folks like yourself.
You write “Above all else, it will MANDATE colleges and the gatekeepers who lend the funds to these academic treasures to change their standards so that everyone can benefit from the system.” State colleges are funded by the taxpayers — and most of the money goes to fund the high pay of staff/faculty and their outrageous benefits that are growing exponentially. This is why tuition increases has outpaced the rate of inflation. Our tax dollars are lining the pockets of a few at the expense of students and their parents.
The President stated something in his SOTU that I found very troubling — and that was his statement that the government would forgive your student loans if you chose to work for the government. That is very scary that the govt would attempt in any way to dictate the career paths that our young people choose. It is socialism… and that is a very slippery slope.
Don't look to the President for the right answers here; we need real change, change in how our government operates and how our tax dollars are spent.