WHAT ABOUT US?

1986. That's the year I was born.

In my previous article titled "What's your mantra?", I stated that I am always happy whenever a government establishes a program or passes a law that allows people from the age of 16 to 25 who are out of school to have access to work or any kind of paid apprenticeship. I think it's a great way to integrate them in the society. Besides, not everybody who is successful in this lifetime has been to school all the way. It's also a great way to decrease crime. Indeed, by them being professionally active and out of the streets, they are less likely to be a part of any criminal activity or group.

However, in this article, I am speaking for the rest of us. The ones that went to school all the way and followed the guideline that said that right after college (Grad School especially), or no later than 6 months after you graduate, you will get a job with a good salary that will set you for life.

A good number of people think that school is easy, but actually it's "a hustle" (if i may use that term). The competition level is no joke. First, you have to finish high school and your grades have to be a certain level to get into college. Let's not forget about the fact depending on which part of the world you live, you have to pass the French Baccalaureat, the SAT, the TOEFL and some other tests if needed. Then, you have to pick a degree you enjoy. Indeed, college is not cheap as you guys know, and the price keeps rising every year. It's not just tuition you have to consider. There is also living expenses like room and board, clothes, transportation, health insurance and so on...Basically, nobody wants to spend all that money on a degree he/she will drop out of cause that will be some wasted that is unlikely to back to your bank account or be waived if you got a loan for it.

Furthermore, for those like me who wanted to go to Grad School, do you remember the hard (and expensive!!) process of having to study and take the GRE, the LSAT, the GMAT, the MCAT and so on.....

Even a good score at those exams does not guarantee you a safe seat in a school.

Finally here comes graduation. The first thought going through your mind is "YESSSS!!! Thank God! It's all done". No more nights with no sleep because you had to stay up studying. Here you are now applying for jobs and sending your resume. One month goes by. Two months. Three months. Six months. One year. Still no positive response from job interviews (or no response at all from the application you submitted).

In a meantime, you try to think of a Plan B to get some money going cause (and that's real), the longer you wait for a job to happen, the more money goes out than comes in. between the loans taken out for school and the living expenses most of the time put on credit cards, your debt keeps piling up.

Let's not forget that sometimes you have to borrow money. Not once, but twice or three times cause being paid minimum wage, sometimes when all the bills come at the same time, the end of the month can be rough until you get your next paycheck.

Have you also noticed that finding a little job these days is so hard with that tough economy?

I'm pretty sure a lot of you who will read my article have heard "sorry, but you are overqualified for this position".

I have a lot of retail experience, and let me tell you, it's not just students and recent graduates looking for those kind of jobs nowadays. It's also people who are already working full time somewhere who need a second job to pay their bills, their mortgage or even a trip they have been dying to go on.

And of course, by the time you have the job you worked so hard for, you don't even get to enjoy the financial rewards and benefits of it cause most of your salary goes back to the debt you contracted.

Let's be real guys, this is one of the reason why people get married and start having kids at a later stage theses days cause having a family is not cheap. Nobody ever want to feel like they cannot support or provide for their family.

What are your thoughts on this topic? Let me know.

Marie-Madeleine Mbong