Reply to Photo essay -- living with debt in America

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel like, growing up, I was told to go to the best college possible and pursue whatever interested me.  The emphasis was always on getting an "Education" and not to worry about jobs, because I would spend the rest of my life working.  This was a fantastic experience.  I double majored in History and English, because I loved studying them.  People consistently told me you can do ANYTHING with these degrees and you can always teach.

So I think there needs to be a stronger emphasis on getting a "Career." I want to actively encourage my children to really think about what jobs they may want, to really consider where they see themselves, etc.  I am a strong advocate of Education.  My husband is an Educator.  But, there needs to be a focus on the purpose of Education.

My mother was a nurse.  She hated that her choices growing up were basically teacher, nurse, or secretary.  She pushed my sister and I to pursue knowledge and find our own path.  Ultimately, we both wish she had instilled in us the desire to be a nurse.  We would have made way more money, had more flexible job opportunities, and probably spent less on college.

Hindsight.[/quote]
I am one of the PPs and this is exactly what we were talking about.  We were told the same things growing up and I think a lot of that is historical perspective.  To our parents (early boomers in my case) this was actually good advice because, like PP's successful attorney mother, a bachelor's degree in their time regardless of subject matter (within reason) was a guaranteed foot in the door to a good job.  I think those days are gone for two simple reasons.  First, the staggering cost of education.  It simply is too much of an economic hardship/risk to attend college and "figure it out while you are there".  You need a solid plan that makes sense for your intended career path.  Don't know what you want to do yet?  Ok, maybe college is a year or two away and you can spend that time working or volunteering overseas and gain valuable experience that might lead to a clearer picture for eventual college matriculation.  Second, the watering down of the college degree credential.  We talked about this a bit earlier too.  College degrees are a dime a dozen now so that alone isn't the golden ticket it once was.  These two factors combine in my mind to indicate that the present reality is such that not everybody should go to college and if you are college bound you should have a solid plan of how to accomplish what you need to accomplish with your education in the most cost-effective way possible while ensuring that you have what you need in skills, experience and education to jump into your chosen career as soon as you graduate with as little debt as possible.[/quote]

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