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[quote=Anonymous]College had a massive influence on the trajectory of my life, but I'm not typical of the college bound kids whose parents post on this board.

I was a working class kid who was only the second person to earn a bachelor's degree in my family over many generations. I earned two bachelor's, a master's, then a JD.

My college education didn't result in a massive change to my standard of living, as the burden of student loans ate up most of my earnings beyond what I paid basic living expenses (and I lived not a lot better than I did as a student) because I went into public service lawyering (legal aid, then public defense, then prosecution) and earned a modest income. I got some assistance from LRAP at my former law school, but was only chipping away at my student loans when very serious health issues caused me to be forced to leave the practice of law. I'll be repaying my student loans until I die.

I'm an entirely different person than I would have been had I not gone to college. While many aspects of my core personality remain the same (empath, loving, trusting, hopelessly idealistic, down to earth) my world view was very shaped by the knowledge I gained in my university studies, and sadly to some degree alienated me from many members of my immediate family who are very conservative, very anti-intellectual and cannot put politics aside for the sake of family bonds.

I struggle with my feelings about whether I made the right choice going to college. I am certain that had I not gone, I'd be better off financially than I am now and better situated in retirement. I know that might sound absurd to some of you, but it's a truth that many working class/lower middle class kids experience whose parents don't help them with financing college and whose student loan burden often stands as an obstacle to home ownership and even parenthood. I have many peers who did technical programs or associates degrees or apprenticeships or started businesses who own homes, have shiny new cars every few years, have kids, etc. It's frustrating.

On the other hand, where I grew up and the people I knew and associated with - I think I would have been a person with a worldview that from where I stand now I would find sad, if not repugnant. But I'd be blissfully ignorant! So there would be that.

I have a very curious mind and I'm glad I had the opportunity to fill it with so many years of learning and that I continue to be a critical thinker who is still always learning and open-minded about new ideas, new horizons, etc. But it's hard to have one foot in one world and the other in a different world. I really wish I'd been born into a different kind of family, I guess. I do spend a fair amount of time wondering 'what if?', and I wish I could know how my life would have turned out on a different trajectory. I'm not sure that's a normal preoccupation for people whose college experience isn't so intensely transformative as mine was, for the reasons articulated.   [/quote]

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