College doesn't happen for my family. For one reason or another, no one in my family went. Until my dad went back in the mid-2000s. He received his Associate's and was onto the job scene. Fast forward a few years to 2011, and you'll find me on the first day of college, a bundle of nerves and my backpack crammed with every book on the required list "just in case." Yeah, I was one of those students. College flew by in a flurry of rushed assignments and half-finished story ideas. But what I remember most about it is all the hours I put in working around class time. I chose two relatively cheap colleges (that is an oxymoron), but I still needed money to pay the tuition. Fast forward four years, and here I am, a freshly graduated adult. Staring down over $30,000 in student loans. With a job that pays just below minimum wage, plus tips. Where is the future I was promised?
I was told in high school by teachers, co-workers, strangers and even my parents that if I ever wanted to make anything of myself, I needed to go to college. But was this advice good advice? Or is college just something we are expected to do, like brushing our teeth or looking both ways before crossing the street? At this point in time, I'd have to go with the latter.
My brother, who does not have any sort of college degree, has a job as percussion director for a local high school. My fiance, who also does not have a degree, has a full-time job with good pay. Yet I am working two part-time jobs, barely getting 30 hours a week. In my off-time, I am focused on applying for jobs that go along with my field. Let me tell you, it's a little disheartening to send out four applications daily and not get any of those jobs.
Which brings me to another point. There are dozens of jobs that we as college grads can't even apply for because they require work experience (usually more than a year). How can we get this experience at a full-time position if we are going to college? Yet how can we hope to land any of these positions without a college degree? Maybe it isn't even us as students that are to blame. Maybe it's the system.
But college isn't all bad. I've taken away many lessons (most not learned in a classroom). I've also built some wonderful relationships and have been exposed to some opportunities that otherwise I may not have been exposed to. When it comes to the job market, however, I'm constantly questioning myself.
The purpose of this article is not to dissuade anyone from going to college. It is simply to show that the "expected" option may not always be the right one. That a dream job could be just that, a dream. But who knows? Maybe it's my fault for majoring in English.
