Uncomfortable: Being in Debt Before You Begin Life

A while back I wrote a blog about higher education and how it pretty much blows. Then, last night my boyfriend sent me this video – JP nails it… legitimately. Please, take a couple minutes and check out this video; then we’ll have another uncomfortable conversation 🙂

He seriously #NailedIt
I know SO many people who are thousands of dollars in debt, from going to college, and I’m sure you know a few as well.

We go to college to figure out what we like, and what we want to do with the rest of our lives – to validate ourselves in terms of our hopes, dreams and aspirations. To be worth a damn to the community…
But, what is that validation costing us?
Staying at home longer with your parents because you can’t afford to move out?
Not being able to get married when you want to – because you don’t want to inundate your partner with debt?
Having to work a job you hate, instead of having a career?

We are taught to pursue college, but that is not always the right answer. There are so many startups now, being ran by people who never graduated college. And because of the recession, EVERYONE and their mother went back to school. Thus, making a Bachelor’s Degree the equivalent of what a High School Diploma used to be.
And I’m not saying that’s fair, but it is what it is.

So, unless you are going to get your Master’s Degree, or a PhD… academia has basically gridlocked everyone.
There wasn’t anywhere to “gain experience” during the recession, so nix that from your resume. But, for an entry level position they want a college degree with 3 years experience – how is that entry level?! When I first graduated (with a double major and a minor – 2013), every place I talked to, and applied for, basically told me to get my Master’s Degree, and then we could talk. I ended up back in the restaurant business for almost another two years after graduation…
My Brother graduated with a M.E. (mechanical engineering) Degree, but because he didn’t have any “experience” in the field – he couldn’t get a job in said field. After spending 5 years as an undergrad, he opted to go straight into the MBA program at UNR because that’s what you HAVE to do now… He just graduated in May – proud Sister moment! – with SEVEN consecutive years of schooling… (yuck!!)

Everything we are taught and everything we have learned about academia and college and what graduating is like – is garbage. Truly, it’s GARBAGE. You don’t get a job right out of school anymore – but, then how are you supposed to get the required experience in your field? Well, that’s a good question… because you can’t get hired into your field without experience.

So, we come out of school, unable to acquire a job in our field or maybe even in our skill set. Then, we get these bills from the school. Thinking we would have a “professional” job when we got out of college, we didn’t worry about the debt or the student loans (I’m generalizing here).
“Not a problem! I’ll be able to pay them off, maybe even early if I land this job I want”.
And want we do, but we don’t get it… so, the bills start piling up and yet we STILL can’t find a job in our field. So, we go back to school and get that Master’s Degree everyone seems to think we need; or we take a job, any job, that isn’t necessarily a career or what we even studied in college.