Posted on 12/14/2008 4:39:43 AM PST by Rebelbase
Life was supposed to evolve this way: Study hard, graduate from high school, go to college.
Study hard, graduate from college, get a good job.
Work hard and earn a promotion that nets more money and more responsibility. Maybe fall in love, get married and have a kid or two.
Buy a house.
Take vacations.
Prosper.
That’s what many members of generations X and Y expected out of life. Most were wearing OshKosh or diapers or were a mere twinkle in their parents’ eyes the last time America faced a prolonged recession.
No one ever mentioned hiring freezes, layoffs, foreclosures or repossessions to them. Not one thought of earning a business degree only to search for a job for months on end. There was never a word about having the promise of a home deferred by an economic downturn.
Inflation and deflation were just vocabulary words.
Now it’s reality for many 20- and 30-somethings, who are feeling the anxiety of living through their first recession.
As a student taking 18 credit hours at N.C. A&T, serving on the university yearbook, working as the features editor for the campus newspaper, shepherding students as a residential assistant — all while maintaining her spot on the dean’s list — Alexandria Harper can be described with one word: overachiever.
Her reward came at A&T’s December commencement, where she walked the stage a semester ahead of schedule to receive a degree in liberal studies .
Just don’t ask what she’ll do next, other than returning to her childhood room in her parent’s Westerville, Ohio, home.
“Not because I’m not accomplished,” the 22-year-old said. “I’ve had internships. It’s because of the economy.”
That has her a bit stressed.
She’s facing a nine-month void until she starts graduate school and, so far, nothing to fill it.
She’s hoping for something that will advance a career in her chosen field, print journalism. She has even inquired about working for free.
No takers.
“I’m applying for scholarships and keeping my fingers crossed,” Harper said.
The alternative is settling for ... anything.
“I’ll have to do what I don’t want to: Make a living doing something that may not interest me to make ends meet,” she said.
This is not how she imagined her undergraduate career ending.
“I’m really, really nervous. I know I have what it takes. I have the knowledge. I have the drive. What I don’t have is the security.”
Vivian Lutian is always ready with an encouraging comment, but these days, she’s stocked with more than just words.
“I’ve had to buy more Kleenex,” said Lutian, an adult career counselor at Guilford College who works with students who are older than 24.
Lutian has worked in the career counseling business for more than a decade, and she has seen economic ups and downs. But the mood of the students coming to see her this semester has tangibly changed.
“I’m getting a lot more people who are emotionally upset, coming in in tears,” Lutian said. “Either they’re being laid off or they’ve been fired or they’ve been out looking for a job far too long, in their opinion.”
The National Bureau of Economic Research recently affirmed what people’s pocketbooks had been telling them: The country is in a recession and has been for months.
Not all the news is bad, though. More than 70 employers signed up for Guilford’s job fair last month, topping the number from last year.
But in the Triad, Lutian said, job opportunities tend to be in the service industry.
“Maybe it’s OK while you’re going to college, but it’s certainly not what they want to be doing when they finish,” she said. “That’s a part of the problem. The types of jobs that are available are not the things people consider to be a career. They’re jobs.”
Processing the economy’s free fall means balancing reality against perception. Having come of age in boom times, younger generations aren’t prepared for the fact that the careers they planned for may not be available now that they’re ready.
“They’re getting frightened, and they’re feeling like they’re never going to find anything,” Lutian said. “I’ve just felt a lot of pessimism, a lot of heaviness.”
“There are still jobs out there, and I’m still encouraging my students to go after them. Be patient because it’s going to take longer. It absolutely will take longer than you expected.”
This spring, the world looked rosy for Brian and Deanna Miller.
Deanna Miller, 35, had landed a new job with a significant salary increase. The timing seemed perfect for her and her husband to move out of their two-bedroom apartment and buy a house.
“We had talked to a mortgage lender, gotten pre-approved for a mortgage and were looking at houses online,” she said.
Then summer came, and Brian Miller’s hours were cut from 40 hours a week to 30. He found out Monday that his job was being eliminated.
“The company he worked for sells lighting fixtures and ceiling fans, and mainly deals with new construction,” Deanna Miller said. “There’s not a lot of houses being built.”
That means no house for the Millers either.
“We can’t risk moving out of the apartment — with the rent that we know we can afford with no problems, with the utilities we know we can afford — to move into a house where we can end up being ‘house poor,’ ” she said.
“It’s made us say we have to stay where we’re at now. There’s enough room.”
Brian Miller, 27, is looking for new work, preferably a position that would put his bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies and his master’s degree in public health to good use.
But the pickings are slim.
“It’s become a part-time job looking for ... another job,” his wife said. “He’s online. I’m online. We talk to people.”
Meanwhile, the couple has cut back.
“We don’t eat out as much,” Deanna Miller said. “I clip coupons religiously.”
“I told a friend of mine that, for the first time, I’ve really, really realized I’m an adult. I’m having to deal with taxes ... and really be concerned about job security. It’s completely changed.”
Ash Jones is idling at one of life’s intersections.
On the one hand, he’d love to study law.
“I’m very analytical,” said the Greensboro College senior. “I love researching and reading. That definitely gives me some desire to go toward a law-oriented job.”
What he doesn’t want is the crush of student loan repayments that could come after graduate school. He’s living on loans now and is worried about paying off those debts.
He’s not even sure how much he owes.
“I haven’t looked at the figure in a year,” Jones said. “I’m scared to do so. I’m not sure if I want to look at it and the interest on it all.”
On the other hand, he could get a job. If he can find one.
“The way I looked at it when I got into school was that a college degree equaled a good job,” Jones said. “The economy has changed so much in the five years that I have a different perspective right now. Having a college degree doesn’t necessarily mean getting a good job anymore.”
Jones, 30, was a bit of a late bloomer. While many of his peers set off for college, graduated and started careers, Jones was just approaching the starting line.
“I was in the military for a while. When I got out, I just roamed around and wasted a few years of my life,” said Jones, a political science major minoring in ethics.
Those days are behind him, and his spring graduation looms. But first, he needs to decide which way to turn.
“Being 30 and starting off late, the question is, do I want to put myself in college longer, incur more loans and cause more of a financial burden on myself? Or do I want to just get out with a four-year degree, a bachelor’s degree, and get on the road with that?”
He sits at the proverbial intersection, idling.
Lucy Paschal won’t remember her first recession. At 6 months old, her biggest concern is a fresh diaper and ample food.
But the economy is making an impression on her parents, 29-year-old Michael Paschal Jr. and his wife, Courtney .
“Though neither of us has lost a job, we are still struggling to pay our bills right now,” said Courtney, 30 . “I feel like I’m constantly playing catch-up.”
They’ve dissected their budget to see what can be trimmed. Netflix didn’t survive the scrutiny. Neither did the gym membership.
And that weekly trip to the grocery store?
“It’s not a weekly thing anymore at all,” Courtney said. “Now it’ll be two or three weeks.”
But Courtney has one thing going for her: perspective.
“My husband was going to trade in his car to get a more family-friendly car,” she said. But “because things are the way they are, it’s hard to get loans. We don’t have the money to outright pay for that stuff.”
The Paschals are renters who aspire not to be. She knows it may take them a few years for that goal to be attainable.
“That’s OK,” she said. “We have plenty of room.”
“If you’re looking at 401(k)s and things like that, yes, obviously, I’ve taken a hit on that,” she said.
“But the good news for people our age is that there’s plenty of time for it to go back up.”
“And if you had gone to college and taken English Grammar you would have known to write “I wish I had gone” rather than ‘I wish I had went.’”
And you would know not to capitalize the word “grammar” ;-)
I was volunteering my time to the church, not partaking in the victuals.
There are worse things to do on a Saturday, I’m sure.
As someone who also has a “liberal arts” degree, but does something very technical, I’m guessing you went to school some time ago. Schools now emphasize “LIBERAL” in “Liberal Arts”.
Small town in Southwest Missouri. It is an interesting group. There is a core group of couples who have been at this church since teenagers. Most of the class have at least two children, several of us have three.
There was tremendous positive peer pressure among the wives to be stay at home moms and many of the families started making sacrifices 5-10 years ago to make that happen.
Now that things are slowing down, these families are veterans at cutting corners, clipping coupons, and countless other ways to get by on next to nothing.
With the newspaper and plastic bag shoes?
We had the same reaction to her print journalism aspirations. Don’t these kids look at job forecasts when they choose a major? I sincerely doubt “print journalist” is up there in the top ten.
That area has jobs. Maybe not the best jobs, but jobs - and I know a certain college student who is happy making sandwiches behind a counter if that means money in his pocket while he is in college. Now that I think about it, that certain college student always seems to find an opportunity for work. I’ll bet I can find you someone the same age who may or may not be considered an overachiever but has found opportunities despite the economic downturn. Why aren’t they featured? Where is the media channel that promotes the good old American can-do attitude rather than the emotional handwringing of doom and gloom (always blamed on Republicans)? I have a neighbor who is furious that they are having to live like peasants - their words - because they started buying off-brand products. THIS makes you a peasant? Yeah, they voted for you know who.
Thank you so very very much.
See, I knew that a college education would come in handy in precise correction of verbage. Of course the meaning is the same, but then we wouldn’t have the college educated folks jacking themselves off in their literary importance. Everything has a purpose I suppose.
(and in the hopes that your post was sarcasm, mine was too. If not, mine wasn’t either)
By the way, let me point you to my favorite website and rounds up everything in your post:
White people love rules. It explains why so they get upset when people cut in line, why they tip so religiously and why they become lawyers. But without a doubt, the rule system that white people love the most is grammar. It is in their blood not only to use perfect grammar but also to spend significant portions of time pointing out the errors of others.
When asking someone about their biggest annoyances in life, you might expect responses like “hunger,” “being poor,” or “getting shot.” If you ask a white person, the most common response will likely be “people who use ‘their’ when they mean ‘there.’ Maybe comma splices, I’m not sure but it’s definitely one of the two.”
If you wish to gain the respect of a white person, it’s probably a good idea that you find an obscure and debated grammar rule such as the “Oxford Comma” and take a firm stance on what you believe is correct. This is seen as more productive and forward thinking than simply stating your anger at the improper use of “it’s.
Another important thing to know is that when white people read magazines and books they are always looking for grammar and spelling mistakes. In fact, one of the greatest joys a white person can experience is to catch a grammar mistake in a major publication. Finding one allows a white person to believe that they are better than the writer and the publication since they would have caught the mistake. The more respected the publication, the greater the thrill. If a white person were to catch a mistake in The New Yorker, it would be a sufficient reason for a large party.
Though they reserve the harshest judgment for professional, do not assume that white people will cast a blind eye to your grammar mistakes in email and official documents. They will judge you and make a general assessment about your intelligence after the first infraction. Fortunately, this situation can be improved if you ask a white person to proof read your work before you send it out. “Hey Jill, I’m sorry to do this, but I have a business degree and I’m a terrible writer. Can you look this over for me?” This deft maneuver will allow the white person to feel as though their liberal arts degree has a purpose and allow you to do something more interesting.
Don’t worry, it is impossible for a white person to turn down the opportunity to proofread.
http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/05/12/99-grammar/
#99 Grammar
“That’s what many members of generations X and Y expected out of life. “
Actually, what I have seen Gen XY is that they do not want responsibility, just money for doing nothing.
Now that’s racist.
During the summer of ‘06, unemployment was 4.6% GDP growth was close to 6% we had been GAINING jobs for a couple of years.Then we had the ‘06 election, with dim-0s promising “CHANGE.” AND THEY DELIVERED!! Is everyone happy with the “CHANGES” we’ve seen since then?
Agreed, but it's probably the reporter, not the kids. If you look through the reporter's whine it actually looks like 20 something kids going through a normal adjustment to real life. My 20 something kids are still living with us so I don't really have any room to speak...just making a joke while it was hot.
Yup. That was me at my zenith.
Sounds to me like most of these young adults are very spoiled to think that their liberal arts degrees will come in handy for work? Almost every service industy job I’ve ever had I worked with people who had liberal arts degrees. They usually were the worst workers with the biggest attitudes so usually were given the worst possible things to do because of it.
Of course they do, it's just that the engineering, teaching, nursing, and business majors don't make good copy 'cause they're able to go out and find work. So maybe this year the engin grads have 3 offers instead of 10; they'll live.
Gee, and the chick who who wants to go into print journalism - doesn't she see what's happening in that field? I see another happy McDonald's worker in the making.
“Schools now emphasize “LIBERAL” in “Liberal Arts”.”
They did back then too, A. We survived.
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