To be honest, I don't know what I want to do when I grow up. While I have a considerable amount of time before my maturity level will allow me to take on any serious form of responsibility, life after you get your bachelor's degree isn't going to wait. Personally, I'm going to opt for more school- I'm (probably) applying to various programs located in Europe and North America. A lot of other people I've talked to about it are going to (try to) get jobs with their 4 year degree. Some people, however, have resigned themselves to working shit jobs until something else comes along. Further still, there are a few people I'm familiar with who have dropped out of school all together and gotten jobs as soon as possible. I know that this whole "just out of college freak-out" is a time old notion, but is it worse for our generation than some of the generations past because of the current recession?
Opportunity Cost is used in economics to determine which option will be the most profitable. In this instance, we need to look at the opportunity cost of college education. Using myself as an example: I've decided that it will be more profitable for me in the long run to stay in college, even after considering the money I spend on this education and the amount of money I'm not making while committing my time to university. Really, education is an investment. And I came to this conclusion of furthering my education after working shit jobs every summer (Flying J Truck Stop, anyone?). There are some people though that are saying this isn't necessarily the best option anymore. When we were in London, I discussed with my former House Dad the unemployment rates. He talked about how there were college graduates who were never able to get a job right out of college and now, ten years later, they're having trouble getting a job because they have no work experience and an older version of their degree.
It appears that the recession isn't aiding any kind of life decisions all over the world. Because of labels that my generations has acquired, like the "Stupidest" generation, it's possible that we might have a harder time pulling out of this one. It's not all our fault though- we didn't raise ourselves and it's not like we were given the easiest situation to deal with anyway. Having watched and talked to people my age from all over the world, I think it's safe to say that change in government and markets will be coming soon. In fact, it's necessary that it does.
Opportunity Cost is used in economics to determine which option will be the most profitable. In this instance, we need to look at the opportunity cost of college education. Using myself as an example: I've decided that it will be more profitable for me in the long run to stay in college, even after considering the money I spend on this education and the amount of money I'm not making while committing my time to university. Really, education is an investment. And I came to this conclusion of furthering my education after working shit jobs every summer (Flying J Truck Stop, anyone?). There are some people though that are saying this isn't necessarily the best option anymore. When we were in London, I discussed with my former House Dad the unemployment rates. He talked about how there were college graduates who were never able to get a job right out of college and now, ten years later, they're having trouble getting a job because they have no work experience and an older version of their degree.
It appears that the recession isn't aiding any kind of life decisions all over the world. Because of labels that my generations has acquired, like the "Stupidest" generation, it's possible that we might have a harder time pulling out of this one. It's not all our fault though- we didn't raise ourselves and it's not like we were given the easiest situation to deal with anyway. Having watched and talked to people my age from all over the world, I think it's safe to say that change in government and markets will be coming soon. In fact, it's necessary that it does.
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