"Despite being bright, articulate and well-educated (she has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in teaching), Bravo couldn't find full-time work after she graduated."
Bravo is not too bright, and a lazy a$$...
Exactly. I graduated just shy of 10 years ago, and even then the University was filled with nonsensical majors and unemployable graduates.
If you think it's bad here, I read a statistic the other day that 80% of Italian men between the ages of 18 and 30 live at home with their mothers. Talk about "mama's boy."
or medical...or even education...
Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
--Calvin Coolidge
Most university degree programs should come with a warning: DANGER THIS DEGREE WILL MAKE YOU UNEMPLOYABLE DANGER
The article talks about how hard it is for these new grads to get by and get out in the world on $20,000-$30,000 or so. Too bad the article didn't publish the new grads' monthly expenditures. I'm willing to bet most have a high car payment, beer/alcohol expenses, cell phone, etc. Cut those out for a little while and it is amazing how fast one can pay off debt! I myself paid off $7,000 in post-college credit card debt in about 15 months while earning $28,000/year.
"You think, six months ago I had a great on-campus job and social life. Now, I'm living at home, I have two friends and no academic stimulation for the first time in 20 years -- sitting in the basement, surfing the Internet, looking for work," Relyea says. "It's like, wow, I was just studying the cultural history of aborigines and now I'm looking at jobs where the main duties are answering the phone and typing.' "
"How are you supposed to make that shift? It's really something nobody prepares you for."
Boo hoo hoo, cry me a river. Not everyone grows up to be an astronaut.
The Colleges have continuted to jack up tuitions simply becauses they can. They continue to feed at the trough of the Federal Student Loan program. Today's young adults are not only armed with irrelevant degrees they are burdened with hefty loan payments in a world squeezed by globalization and the burden of paying for illegals. And just wait until they get the social security bills to pay for their baby boomer parents who all thought federal subsidized student loans were a wonderful idea.
Where are the parents or counselors in directing these young adults into careers that would sustain them? MIA, no doubt.
The girl subject in this article should have gone from HS into massage therapy....saving herself and her parents a bundle of $$ and wasted time.
It's the fault of the parents. Not preparing their children to get out on their own is the failure. Then, failing to overcome the fear of, "What if they fail miserably?", they failure to kick their unchallenged butts out the door.
My brother was a failure to launch...so of. He was more like a successful launch that failed to leave port after getting repairs. He came back from a tour in Korea, during the VNW, a pot head. Instead of forcing him to make decisions to sink or sail, my mom brought him back, and he never left her home until she was put into a nursing home after his free-basing-gone-bad burnt doen her house.
Most of the people I went to college with did not end up working in fields related to their majors (myself included - my major was architecture). Most of them found out that pay was better in service jobs if you own your own business. About all of my family are college grads and post grads., but when my kids get old enough I'm not going to push them into college if they don't want to. I'm going to try to encourage their entrepreneuring instincts.
Bravo has decided to focus on her ballroom dancing skills -- she hopes to compete in a national competition this fall -- and become a professional dance teacher. "They can make $70 or $80 an hour," she says.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, a ballroom dancer?
This article makes no sense. I graduated 15 years ago in D.C. and I was making $20,000 at my first job. However, I worked through college so I actually had real life skills when I graduated. To pay rent in a very expensive area, I had three roommates that I shared a house with. One bathroom for 4 girls , my room was the size of a broom closet and I rode the bus to work but I avoided the boomerang effect. These students could make it if they wanted to but they just don't want to sacrifice anything.
The best thing a young person can do? Get an education that includes several co-op opportunities. Engineering, science, applied math, health sciences, medical, dental, and business programs often offer these. You get hired on a short term basis (4-8 months), at relatively low pay, between terms of classes, get a foothold in the working world of your chosen field, and inject some reality into your degree.
As for the people who are wasting their time on fluffy lightweight majors...bwahahaha, you were most definitely warned.
What a load of bravo sierra. This is one of the best job markets ever.