Posted on 08/30/2018 9:12:49 AM PDT by 11th_VA
For Alexandria Butler-McDow, 28, going to university didn’t provide the freedom and financial security she'd hoped for. After graduating with an associate’s degree from the California Culinary Academy (CCA) in San Francisco, CA, in 2008, Butler-McDow struggled to find a job that would allow her to support herself and her disabled mother while also paying off her enormous student loan bill.
Hopeful that a more advanced degree would help her make more money and better manage her debt, Butler-McDow went on to pursue a bachelor’s degree in culinary nutrition, concentrating on clinical dietetics at Johnson and Wales University (JWU) in Providence, RI. By the time she had finished her second degree, Butler-McDow was even deeper in debt.
Now, nearly four years after graduating with her second degree, Butler-McDow (better known as Chef Alexandria at Better Taste Productions) is a Los Angeles-based chef and culinary consultant focusing on nutrition and education — and she is still six figures in debt. Though she has defaulted on her loans and deferred some of her payments, the end of this ordeal is still out of her reach. “We are sold the notion that getting an education is what will improve our socioeconomic standing,” Butler-McDow told Refinery29. “My degrees were supposed to bring me out of poverty but they’ve just anchored me.” ...
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Not only are they “set-up” to believe they deserve a degree, but also believe that society will just give them a job that meets their expectations.
The Food Network and the newspapers and magazines have created a false and romantic idea of what working in restaurants is like. Of course, in the era of Mario Batali, perhaps the scales are falling from some people’s eyes.
Dumbass Democrat Millennials.................
My daughter has an Assoc. Degree as a dietary tech and 20 years working in food service.
She is now the assoc. director of Food Service at a children’s hospital.
She has no debt. She got her very practical education from a local community college with a reputation for being as tough as the state universities, but much cheaper.
These sob stories are all designed to make us willing to give everybody free college.
Sounds like Alexandria wants to start at the top and direct the peasants to do the real work.
She can’t find a job because she doesn’t want to work Nights and Weekends, a must for anyone starting out in the culinary field.
Nobody gets the coveted Weekday gigs coming right out of school.
Plus 100K for a 2 year school in the culinary field? That is dumb. Should not be more then a few grand plus the cost of a really good cook book.
People I know who went to Culinary school and who are still in the field would have all said Culinary school was a waste of money, it was basically training you for large scale kitchens mostly found on cruise ships. Nothing on land operates in the manor that you were trained for.
A quality chef in a foodie town like San Fran could easily make 100k a year...theres something missing here...
If she can’t find a good job working in a restaurant after a culinary degree, then something with HER is wrong. The food business now is booming like no time in my lifetime, people are eating out 9/10 meals.
What she might be saying is I’m very picky about the job I want and I’m unwilling to prove myself first...
She might need to work her way up the ladder despite having academic skills. Well lady, welcome to the real world!
I had a 64 year old (no significant other, no kids, no relatives in the area, college grad) renting one of my bedrooms in California around 2010 because he out of a job but getting unemployment benefits. He kept saying no one was hiring in CA but when I mentioned that North Dakota had plenty of jobs available and were paying starting bonuses he wanted to know where North Dakota was. I gave up on helping him.
‘....not willing to move.’
That’s the key term. There are probably a hundred major restaurants around New York City which would have an interest in you....but they aren’t going to pay at the level for that $100k in loans to be easily paid-off. If you stood around for ten years in NY City, you might finally start getting respect and real pay as a top-notch cook.
In the LA area, and San Fransisco....you might find forty job opportunities that pop up each year, but again, as a rookie cook....you aren’t going to get the money to pay off that $100k in loans.
Yep, basically....she screwed up and isn’t willing to really move.
I have a feeling she has had tons of job offers
She probably doesn’t want to work nights and weekends, a must for that field.
bachelor’s degree in culinary nutrition, concentrating on clinical dietetics
Last I new restaurants in SF were closing at 5x the rate of openings. No suprise as ti ehy, but that’s I another thread. If she wants to find a full-time gig fast, she should try nursing home/skilled nursing facilities. And be willing to relocate, at least long enough to build up a decent resume.
One of.my kids just got his CDL. When he registered, they told him if a grant. His total cost was $1000.
All of my kids work full time. One has a bachelors, two associates. They are working their way toward bachelors.
All four have started new jobs in the last three months. Their total income increases are about $85000. Only one is in a traditionally high paying occupation. (Aerospace engineer). Don’t dare say you Can’t find a job. You won’t find a job.
Who says she should have gone to college at all?
get a job cooking in a nursing home and take care of your mother...
pay your debts.
She also went to Johnson and Wales, which happens to be a great school. And very expensive.
She’s only 28. She has a Lifetime to pay off the Debt she agreed to repay.
Is she’s a looker, she could just Marry some Rich Fool to pay off her Debts.
I know a Doctor and his MBA Wife who were thrilled when they got their combined Student Loan Debt below $500,000.
Yeah. She spent 100K on a two year program learning to cook? That's pretty dumb right there.
“I’m 28, Have $100K In Student Loan Debt, & I Can’t Find A Full-Time Job”
Not me. I’m going to be 28 in a few days, I’m a happily married stay-at-home mom, I went to a culinary school and never racked up a massive student loan debt, and I don’t lay awake at night dreaming of a day when I’m finally free from debt and can start having a life.
This whole liberal culture of saying everyone has to go to college and get a soft job is a lie. There’s nothing wrong with getting a job in the trades or just being a mom.
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