Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I realize that, but what's the point in pursing something that doesn't interest you? That was the point being made.
I love cars so I do that during night and weekends. I almost made a mistake to get a career involving cars and I cringe each time I see a young kid persuing 'what interests them'. I also race cars and I really feel bad for the mechanics/service people trying compete but cant really afford it.
I say work to earn money, to spend on something interesting.
As a college dropout in my mid-twenties who makes a lot more than what she makes, this makes me thankful that I didn't continue with my degree. I worked in customer service for a few years and realized that I could do (and make) a lot more. And it took a very long time getting from working in a grocery store bakery to where I am today, and I definitely had moments where I felt deflated, but I never let that stop me from finding solutions and making the best of what I had. I think she's trying to do the same, but I can't tell if she wants me to pity her or feel like she's empowered. Honestly, I feel neither.
Dude, I have never seen you do anything BUT crack on state schools. How about, for those of us who did go to one:
1. Do as well in high school as you can.
2. Go to the best college you can both get into and afford.
3. Find a major you are enthusiastic about, has reasonable job prospects, and study hard.
4. Do fun extracurriculars that help your resume, and internships if at all possible.
5. TRY to help your professors out. Don't get upset if it doesn't happen.
6. Network.
Ivy League is great. Good for you that you went. But it really, really warped your idea of what college, for that majority of us, is about. You come across pretty snotty every time you try to spout 'wisdom' that involves state schools.
'Study under the best professors?' How about study under the professor that has a spot left in his class that you need to graduate without slipping another year that you can't afford? That's the reality that most of us that went to state schools, even good ones, lived.
'Research, publishings'? Ha, you TRULY have no idea of what state schools, even good state schools are about. Absolutely none.
A reasonably solid state school isn't what your ideal of a college is about. However, you can certainly do fine out of one, and you're not doomed to join the plebeian class because that's where you went.
Perhaps you should read my post to comprehend it. I never said that state schools are bad. I said the studying under best professors in your field yields the greatest likelihood of success in that field. Btw, I teach at both private and state schools. I know exactly what they are about. There's nothing wrong with them.
Regarding #2, if you do well in high school, you'll be able to afford almost any school with all your scholarships.
Why do people think they are owed a job? It doesn't take a degree to get certain licenses. Get a license to sell securities or insurance or real estate or to drive the big rigs etc. Do what you have to do. Heck sell cars. Do what you have to do. Life isn't easy or fair.
I am not discouraged. It takes time to build a career. It is all about who you know. At the end of my college career, I was working as a HHA cleaning toilets and old people behinds. Landlords and bill collectors do not care which college that you graduated from. My first job out of college was a customer service position and I worked my way up. She will not make $9.25 forever.
The OP's story within the post is a sad one. However, there are ways the Goodwill employee obtain what she needs even while under-employed. She can shop at Goodwill for new clothes and shoes that don't have holes in them. The employees get to go through everything before it is placed out on the floor. There are no rules against them shopping there during their off hours. I often browse through thrift stores (Salvation Army, Goodwill) and there are always good deals on clothing, coats, shoes, as well as household items. As far as food, if they buy the basics which are the staples and not a lot of junk, and don't overeat then food stamps will definitely keep them from being even close to starving.
Her boyfriend has got to get another job, that's all there is to it. If illegal immigrants (males) can stand in front of Home Depot early in the morning in hopes someone will hire them for the day or hour to help load, unload, build, set up, take down, or repair, then why can't White males and Black males do the same for their families? Why aren't they more willing to make sacrifices for their families instead of staying at home doing nothing but complaining about the government or blaming someone else for their troubles? Why are they foolishly holding out for some office job or higher paying position when it's currently not available? They should take whatever legal work is available. Common sense says that some money coming in is better than NO money coming in.
That is very subjective. If I don't have a penny in my pocket but have an opportunity to get into Columbia Business school, I would be more than happy to take a $100k loan because I know where my career would go with a degree from Columbia as opposed to a MBA from Rutgers or SUNY Buffalo which would cost 1/3 of what Columbia would cost, even though both Rutgers and Buffalo are excellent State schools. One has to do a cost-benefit analysis. Not all debt is bad debt.
My Geography degree from SUNY Buffalo has served me well. I graduated with very little debt also. I also have a 50K+ job in something directly related to my major. Now I was "lucky" enough to graduate in the late 1990's when jobs were more plentiful, but there are plenty of opportunities for graduates of good state schools.
My wife graduated with an English degree from SUNY Buffalo and found work as a paralegal not long after college. She took time off to have children and when she returned to the workforce (in 2010) she had no problem finding a job.
We have a middle class lifestyle and we are happy with that. Yes, if you want to strike it rich and work as an investment banker you might want to graduate from Harvard, Princeton Yale (though I have a cousin in that field who went to Loyola and now makes 3 million per year) but if you just want a solid normal middle class life, a SUNY Buffalo or Rutgers will get you there and at a reasonable cost.
Perhaps you should read my post to comprehend it. I never said that state schools are bad.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
If you study at some random state school, don't have high expectations.
Pardon me if I actually read your posts. /shakes head. If you're not lying about your feelings, then you're certainly disingenuous.
Someone disagreeing with you does not make them wrong, or mean they exhibit a lack of comprehension-something you clearly have issues with. The professors I have worked with in my professional life (yes! a random state school guy can make it! but according to you, I should not have had high expectations...) tend to have that characteristic, so you're in the right field.
My Geography degree from SUNY Buffalo has served me well. I graduated with very little debt also. I also have a 50K+ job in something directly related to my major. Now I was "lucky" enough to graduate in the late 1990's when jobs were more plentiful, but there are plenty of opportunities for graduates of good state schools.
My wife graduated with an English degree from SUNY Buffalo and found work as a paralegal not long after college. She took time off to have children and when she returned to the workforce (in 2010) she had no problem finding a job.
We have a middle class lifestyle and we are happy with that. Yes, if you want to strike it rich and work as an investment banker you might want to graduate from Harvard, Princeton Yale (though I have a cousin in that field who went to Loyola and now makes 3 million per year) but if you just want a solid normal middle class life, a SUNY Buffalo or Rutgers will get you there and at a reasonable cost.
Your post is spot on. It's all about the type of perspective you have about life.
I think most people are (deliberately?) missing the point of the original article. It's a micro example that points to macro problems with today's job market. It's true she hasn't made perfect choices, but neither do most people. She's supposed to be "average," or slightly above, as she has a BA. And being slightly above average often yields poverty wages for young people in America today. That's something worth thinking about. Nobody has claimed that zero reasonably paid jobs exist for our brightest overacheivers. But, by definition, not everybody can be an overacheiver. Even were the required talent and ambition universal (and it's certainly not) for every young person to get an engineering degree, we'd be overrun with engineers and the same people who ridicule this woman would be mocking those folks. We need to think macro.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sad but there are ways...
