Beating the Statistics: Back To Reality

Yesterday, as I returned to Abilene Christian University to watch friends graduate I could not help but think about my post-graduate experience in the last year and a half. Keeping me company on the ride was another ACU grad and current critical care nurse in Dallas, also a May 2010 grad. We brought up the usual topics of goals and dreams, current employment situations, and how blessed we are to have employment in this volatile job market.

Personally, before graduation I decided to pursue a law degree and went through that process of applying and getting accepted. My main motivation for following this route was the fact that there were very few available jobs that appealed to my interests. So I figured why not go back to school…law school at that. Needless to say after my first year of torture I decided that a JD was not for me.

So back to reality it was……

Today, only 55 percent of people ages 16 to 29 have a job — the lowest percentage since World War II. A quarter of people between ages 25 and 34 are living with their parents, and new numbers say people under 35 are worth 68 percent less than they were 25 years ago (npr.org).

For the first time ever, there is now more student debt than credit card debt in America — to the tune of $829 billion in student loans. The average college student today has $24,000 in student debt, and many are without jobs they feel their degree had guaranteed. (npr.org)… (my debt amount is A LOT higher).

So what do we do? What do my friends who are still celebrating the ultimate climax of their collegiate experience do when Monday comes around? Honestly, they will be forced to face the reality of our debt carrying unemployed age group.

But fret not my friends, all hope is not lost, the 45% of employed people in our age group are just that, employed. They are making things work in this economy and working hard to do so. Make sure that you are in the 45%, do everything in your power to be in that 45%. And when you are hired, spread the word and tell your friends because they will be looking for jobs too. Make sure to exhaust every contact you have, your parents have, professors, alumni networks, church members, and anyone else you may have a relationship with. Most jobs today are not obtained through standard applications, but given found through personal relationships. So which category will you be in?

Work hard and do not give up!

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress” Frederick Douglass 1857