It saddens me to say this about my elders, but those in the older generation don't know what they're talking about when they say young college kids completely lack motivation.
I am so tired of hearing it that I dedicate this rant to them (not all) and any other individual who believes the following myths....
"Well, if you get a part-time job, you won't have to take out so many loans."
Or..."you studied in debt with that useless major."
Let's examine these common reprimands of the youth.
Myth 1-
"Well, if you get a part-time job, you won't have to take out so many loans" excuse.
A part-time job is NOT going to be very helpful in paying for college.
That 7 or 8 dollars an hour can probably pay for a few cheap books, but that's it.
(It's even harder to get a job with the whole 'un-paid internship' mentality dominating campuses so that you can forfeit that part-time job money for even more valuable experience later down the line with the internship..).
There is no wonder students have to take out so many loans with tuition rates steadily increasing as financial aid is provided to more and more students, though in amounts that don't keep up with inflation and tuition and the school feels the need to hike up cause the access students have to it...arrrgh! The complicated process is hard to explain to say the least. Why not uncomplicate it?
Myth 2- "You studied in debt with that useless major" and therefore deserve what you get.
Then stop telling students and even kids that that they CAN BE WHATEVER THEY WANT. Or my favorite, AS LONG AS YOU GO TO COLLEGE, EVERYTHING WILL WORK ITSELF OUT AT THE END.
If you really think about it, not everyone can be an engineer, a nurse, doctor, or lawyer; the coveted and most desirable degrees that supposedly guarantee you a job after graduation.
Notice that it's not many professions up there.
With many different degrees, there can be more diversity in the labor market; a robust economy with many new ideas on how to do a variety of things.
I understand that some degrees are hard to apply to the real world, but I believe if someone has a plan with that useless degree, they can interpret it pretty successfully themselves.
Not everyone has to get a degree that an employer will want. We need more people going into business for themselves, which is another rant for another day on why its unnecessarily difficult to start a business today; But I will say this- Anyone who wants to start a business that is cost-effective, the internet would be a good start.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand.
I'm tired of older people saying we're lazy and that's why some of us don't even make it to graduation.
It's the system. Blame the difficult system we are now living in.
If there were more students who didn't have to worry about their finances while going to college, they would be free to take as many classes as they want instead of only taking 2 or three to save money and also have time for a part-time job so they don't have to take out so many loans for that semester. This is all evidenced by my peers and friends; my own experience.
It's not fair that young people cannot enjoy themselves while they're studying something they love to do at college. And I don't mean the other myth that I always hear, the myth saying we party all time and go around sexing each other: This mainly applies to those who had an easy transition to college in the area of their finances and can afford to party all the time.
I'm not saying that the system is all to blame. Sometimes there are students who slack, but that's only because so many students who aren't ready or don't particularly know what they're doing, are pushed into college by counselors and parents, not given any other options or choices like technical/trade schools or apprenticeships. Again, this has a little to do with the system we're surrounded around too.
PART 2 COMING SOON
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