Well, Here I am once again, stuck at school during a three week summer term. I swore I would never do another summer term at college after last year, but oh-well. Anywho, at least this only a 3-week session. Last year was all summer. I decided to make this sacrifice so that I can graduate early and get the &%$@# outta here. So to sasve thousands of dollars, I will leave this institution in December, rather than Spring the following year.
I guess you could say I finally got even with the system and beat them out of another semester of money, but then again I will leave here with a piece of paper from them, and thousands of dollars in debt. I have learned much though from this wonderful institution such as: college is nothing more today than jumping though a bunch of hoops in order that you may become a more productive member of society by getting a job that will ultimately put you in a higher tax bracket. Come on, did you ever wonder way Uncle Sam and the old U.S. of A. is so willing to give out student loans and grants??
And now if you want they will provide you with even more loans so that you may seek out and aquire a masters or even doctorate degree. More taxes?! If I sound cynical, it's only because I learned practically little since returning to school that I had not already gained through my life experiences. Yet, to remain viable in a job market that has little tolerence for the working class stiff, and little respect for anyone who does not have a degree, I've placed myself and my family in debt by borrowing money from Uncle Sam that I will payback with interest to the minimum tune of 8.5%. Which I think is unfair. I can understand a service charge, (you know the one that is imediately cut out of my loans before there even applied to my school account), but to add insult to injury is the work of a depraved mind. Heres the deal you borrow say, $2500 from old Uncle Sam, Uncle Sam has a bank to give $2400 of the money they gave them ( the $100 is the banks service fee). You however sign a promissary note to repay the $2500 back (why $2500 instead of The $2400 you got?), plus interest, which though is a locked in interest (not variable at the time of payback), can vary in the amount repaid based on whatever the current economical trend is. Today it is 8.5%, which would nomally mean you would pay back aroun $215 on top of the $2500. However what most students do not realize is that the percentage rate though 8.5% upon entering college may change over the course of time during school. Even though the first 3 or four years this is the interest rate you sign for, it may jump in the last year say, to 10% (not a common thing usually to jump that high). You do not paypack part of the loan at the original rate, you now payback all the loan at the new rate you recieved during the last year. This does not apply in reverse order though. If you get a 10% rate at the beginning of you college carreer, and 8% the second and thoughout the rest of the loans, you will payback the loans at the original 10%, including the last ones. Funny isn't it?
I guess what really burns me, isn't paying back the loans, and I certainly have nothing but praise for this fine institution, short of some areas of the administration whose only concern is to screw you a week or two before graduation with a sudden bill or fees that you suddendly seem to owe and must payback before you can walk and receive you prescious degree. And the profs. here are some of the finest people I've ever had the pleasure to meet and learn under. My real bitch is that I know that once I have degree in hand it will in todays society mean very little more than the high school diploma I recieved years ago. Many of my profs. now tell me that to really get ahead now, I should seek out my Masters or even Doctorate.
So what prompted me to return to college aside from this being a dream I've always had, but could never afford then? Jobs and money. For five years I work for a company as an engineering tech and a accounts and purchasing manager. I did all the work of the engineer in which I worked under. I was given the purchasing position in an attempt to reduce the over budget spending of the company. In the first month alone I reduced their spending from $80,000 a month to Just under $20,000 by stopping the useless and personal spending on the company's account by supervisors. The next month, spending was reduce to less than $12,000, and was now under the $15,000 allowable budget. No thanks, just a rate of pay that less than a quarter of what the engineer made or the original accounting manager. What did they have that I didn't? A college degree. Though eventually both were let go, as a result of their lawsuits over their contractual agreements, the company was forced to close the sight I worked at. I was not offered a transfer to another location, but all of the degreed personel in management were. I was left in an economically depleated area, that has a 69% at or below poverty rate, and no where to go or the monetary means to get there. The entire company eventually when bankrupt as a result of miss management and missapropriation of funds.
I had applied to other companies and though they were most impressed with my work ethics and abilities, I had no degree and they had no use for me. So here I am. I guess the one good point to all of this I've only 1 1/2 weeks to go and I will be home with my family for the rest of the summer. If I were to give out advice to any young adult who is attending or getting ready to attend college, it would be first; to grow up. The single one thing I see in college students today is the inability to realize their not in high school anymore, they are now adults, although be it young adults, adults never the less. There is a very real world out there and it will eat you up and spite out the bones in a heartbeat. College can be fun, but your studies and your GPA must come first. Because like it or not you likeliest next step will be a masters, and a 2.0 GPA won't cut it. Many schools will not even consider anyone with less than a 3.5 to a 3.2 minimum college GPA.
Second, your young yes, and that is exactly way you should not only consider a master or even doctorate now, but dependent upon your degree and chosen field, you should pursue them both. For my particular field, a masters usually requires 2-4 years, and a doctorate can require from 2-5. Get it while your young. If your degree and field of studies does not require it then consider this: a average elementary or high school teacher in my county makes about $30-35,000 a year; with a masters that salary increases atomatically by $10-15,000; and with a doctorate it is an additionall $10-15,000 per year. That amounts to a difference of $30 up to a possible $70,000 plus a year. And if your considering an administative position such as priciple or higher you must at minimum have a masters and many require a doctorate.
There's the old saying, "I'm tired of school and I'm ready and want to get out in the world," well, I would find it much easier to enjoy that world with alot more money in my bank account. Bisides if you only have a college degree, most of that travel money will be to pay back those student loans anyway. And if you keep your GPA up; many schools will offer fellowships and scholarships in their masters and doctorate programs. Besides most schools who offer masters and doctorates tuitions are about a third or less than college. The only schools with realitively the same rates are state schools and universities. I would advise to chose your school wisely. Make sure that it is fully accredited bt the APPROPRIATE agencies. I can not stress this enough. ONLY schools that are accredited by agencies that are regonized by the U.S. Dept. of Education as accrediting institutions should be considered. If their not, don't even bother because the degree woun't be worth the paper it's printed on. This is the most common mistake prospective college students and those pursuing a higher degree make. Ask the intitution the hard questions and Check out their Acreditation, if they give you the runn around, FORGET THEM!!!If it's a new school, find out how far along they are in the acreditation process. This normally takes about 5 years and the acreditation if from an approved agency is retroactive for so many years also. That basically means that if you graduate before final accreditation, your degree is still valid if it falls under the grace period.
Any good advisor will tell you all these things during your college carreer, if they don't, get another advisor. His or her job is to make sure your on the right track in college and to advise you about opportunities and options before you leave. And double check your advisors remarks or advice with another in the field, whether it's another advisor or someone in your carreer field. A good advisor will also tell you this. If they become petty or jealous, once again find another advisor, you no need to have someone give you advice that will affect your professional life if they all they care about is themselves and their own viewpoint. After all would anybody with good sense, just let a surgeon cutoff their arms without a second opinion, just because they say they are the only one who knows whats best for you?