The college conundrum
When you're in high school, so much emphasis is placed on getting a college education. Parents, teachers, and various counselors assure us that we need that diploma to get anywhere in life. It may be expensive, they say, but it's an investment into our own future. You don't want to be 40 years old with just a high school education and working some dead-end job, right? So get yourself edumacated and make something of yourself!
Then a funny thing happens. You do it, and afterward you get to see where that journey has brought you.
That's when you see that a college degree isn't a guarantee for a better future at all. In many ways, it can be downright counterproductive. For anyone not lucky enough to have gotten a slew of scholarships and had parents that would pay off their education, you're suddenly finding yourself saddled with a mortgage-sized chunk of debt, crippling your ability to move out of your parents' house and get on with your life.
Then add in a general lack of experience. Sure, there are things like internships and co-ops, but for anyone who (again) isn't having their education paid for them, earning money is more important than taking an unpaid internship. As nice as it would be to spend eight hours a day getting experience at some firm, making some cash to pay for housing and a meal plan take priority.
So now you're a college graduate with $800 in monthly loan payments and a resume that has three bars listed as your only work experience over the past four years. Part time gigs at minimum wage might help pay rent and groceries, but that's hardly adequate in your newfound college-grad position.
Oh, sure, you can always get deferments and forbearance, but those come packed with the benefit of having the interest continue to accrue even during the non-payment period. Because, of course, it's always nice to get a delay on loan payments and then have even more to pay off once that time period ends. Maybe if you bust your ass at Hot Topic you'll earn enough to keep up with those payments for an extra month.
Meanwhile, your friends who went straight into the work force after high school have four to six years of experience, no loans to pay off, and are married and living in a house they just bought. They went and grew up while you were off doing what your elders insisted was the only way to be successful in life.
A co-worker of mine didn't go to college, and his only job is bartending three days a week. He's one of the happiest guys I know. Lives frugally, so his actual bills come to nearly nothing at the end of the month, which lets him use nearly all his money on fun. A good friend of mine is a prison guard earning $17-ish an hour and he dropped out of a community college after one semester. I'm starting to think, more and more, that education is far less important than it's made out to be.
Then a funny thing happens. You do it, and afterward you get to see where that journey has brought you.
That's when you see that a college degree isn't a guarantee for a better future at all. In many ways, it can be downright counterproductive. For anyone not lucky enough to have gotten a slew of scholarships and had parents that would pay off their education, you're suddenly finding yourself saddled with a mortgage-sized chunk of debt, crippling your ability to move out of your parents' house and get on with your life.
Then add in a general lack of experience. Sure, there are things like internships and co-ops, but for anyone who (again) isn't having their education paid for them, earning money is more important than taking an unpaid internship. As nice as it would be to spend eight hours a day getting experience at some firm, making some cash to pay for housing and a meal plan take priority.
So now you're a college graduate with $800 in monthly loan payments and a resume that has three bars listed as your only work experience over the past four years. Part time gigs at minimum wage might help pay rent and groceries, but that's hardly adequate in your newfound college-grad position.
Oh, sure, you can always get deferments and forbearance, but those come packed with the benefit of having the interest continue to accrue even during the non-payment period. Because, of course, it's always nice to get a delay on loan payments and then have even more to pay off once that time period ends. Maybe if you bust your ass at Hot Topic you'll earn enough to keep up with those payments for an extra month.
Meanwhile, your friends who went straight into the work force after high school have four to six years of experience, no loans to pay off, and are married and living in a house they just bought. They went and grew up while you were off doing what your elders insisted was the only way to be successful in life.
A co-worker of mine didn't go to college, and his only job is bartending three days a week. He's one of the happiest guys I know. Lives frugally, so his actual bills come to nearly nothing at the end of the month, which lets him use nearly all his money on fun. A good friend of mine is a prison guard earning $17-ish an hour and he dropped out of a community college after one semester. I'm starting to think, more and more, that education is far less important than it's made out to be.