Working vs. Investing to work. A true and ironic battle that we all face. We all need money to survive, so we work. We want better paying jobs so we invest in our education to eventually work. Is our benefits of education really paying off?
I did a little research in my own little network of adult family/friends. I counted a total of 22 people. Out of the 22 people, 16 of them have degrees in college. Two Associates, thirteen Bachelor's and one Master's. Out of the 16 degrees, only three have careers in their field of education where their range of income is averaging around $40 - 65k a year. What needs to be noted is that 2 of the 16 people had been laid-off last year so they were not counted. Of the remaining 6 people without degrees, 2 of them are students and 4 of them have careers that range from $65 - 100+k salary annually.
Can you think of what those people who are reeling in the higher salary without the same education are saying about us suffering students? They don't have any student loans, they have a higher range of income, and they didn't have to suffer the long hours of studying to top it all off. What they did was picked up skills and certifications in their field of expertise and used their determination to take off in the world of working people. They all have a great level of work ethic and have continued to sustain a stable life for their families.
I am not discrediting those who had completed school in any way, but my heart goes out to them in their endeavor to survive.
So, the battle goes on within ourselves. Some people have completed their investment in school and are facing survival with or without student loans. The others have only worked and are established without debt to education. As a student myself, I struggle with this knowledge.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
The quest for knowledge
Okay, so I changed my major twice since I started school last fall. This was due to my concern for "Life after college". My first pick was Psychology. I have a deep interest for the mysteries of the human mind. Is that a good enough reason to keep that career path? Apparently not. I changed my major since I was advised by a counselor that I need to have a Master's degree in order to make decent money in that field of work. I don't have the time and money for that. For now I just want to focus on a Bachelor degree. So I changed my major to social work. It was very short lived after finding out what kind of work load that I would be carrying, limited pay, and not to mention the stress involved. I finally convinced myself that I would have to go into the field of health care to satisfy my need for a promising future. Am I completely convinced that I will live a happy life with my third career choice? Not really. I have not been in love with the college level sciences but I still hope for a light at the end of the tunnel.
The next question that I asked myself was, "Will I be able to make sufficient money to supplement my life (and family) in the field of health care?" I did a little research in the classified ads for jobs. I entered the selections of up to $60,000 salary and "health care" and it continued to show several different positions available that I believe are attainable after completing school for 4 years. That is a ray of hope for me since I don't want to be investing all of my time and money into my education for nothing. This gives me confirmation that I had made a good change in the career path that I have chosen. Now all I have to do is work on my motivation and determination to get there!!
The next question that I asked myself was, "Will I be able to make sufficient money to supplement my life (and family) in the field of health care?" I did a little research in the classified ads for jobs. I entered the selections of up to $60,000 salary and "health care" and it continued to show several different positions available that I believe are attainable after completing school for 4 years. That is a ray of hope for me since I don't want to be investing all of my time and money into my education for nothing. This gives me confirmation that I had made a good change in the career path that I have chosen. Now all I have to do is work on my motivation and determination to get there!!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Life after college
As students in college, there is a question that we all ask ourselves now and again: "What will the light at the end of the tunnel truly behold for me?" As we tread through economic uncertainty, this question becomes intensified. I'm sure a lot of people are thinking very similar thoughts to my own, such as, "When are things going to get better, if at all?"
Earlier today, I was talking to my sister who was a stay at home mom to her 5 children until recently. Her husband has his Bachelor degrees in two different areas of study. My heart went out to her ash she explained their struggles caused by her husband's recent loss of employment. Because there is no employment available to replace his previous salary, they are both forced to work long hours at lesser paying jobs to support their family. Two weeks prior to that, my other sister who is a nurse, revealed to me that 40 employees were laid off at a particular hospital. Everywhere you turn you see a dramatic reduction of something or another.
I find this all very discouraging as I invest in my own education to have more windows of opportunity. As I continued my research of this depression, I realized that there's too much negativity and not enough optimism. There is only so much that any one of us could do to make a significant chang in our society. Yes, we all have been cutting back on our expenses, conserving energy, and becoming more "green". If there is more that we could be doing, I hope that we would be notified.
Sure we will always have doubting questions about our future in the back of our minds. Its just important that we stick to our plans of being successful.
Earlier today, I was talking to my sister who was a stay at home mom to her 5 children until recently. Her husband has his Bachelor degrees in two different areas of study. My heart went out to her ash she explained their struggles caused by her husband's recent loss of employment. Because there is no employment available to replace his previous salary, they are both forced to work long hours at lesser paying jobs to support their family. Two weeks prior to that, my other sister who is a nurse, revealed to me that 40 employees were laid off at a particular hospital. Everywhere you turn you see a dramatic reduction of something or another.
I find this all very discouraging as I invest in my own education to have more windows of opportunity. As I continued my research of this depression, I realized that there's too much negativity and not enough optimism. There is only so much that any one of us could do to make a significant chang in our society. Yes, we all have been cutting back on our expenses, conserving energy, and becoming more "green". If there is more that we could be doing, I hope that we would be notified.
Sure we will always have doubting questions about our future in the back of our minds. Its just important that we stick to our plans of being successful.
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