Just Let Me Letter
Absolutely not.
At least not in the US government.
For quite some time now, the decisions coming out of the highest offices in the United States have boggled the minds of many, including myself. This past week was no different.
When Biden announced his plan for student loan debt relief, both of my moms texted me within minutes of each other to see if I was eligible. I’ll have to research whether I am or not. But, it speaks to how highly anticipated this decision was.
I was raised believing that having a college education would buy me a better life with less financial struggle than my parents had raising me. Fast forward, three degrees later, each in attempt to make myself more valuable to the job market, my salary is still lower than either of my parents-both of which had no degrees at all…and, in the meantime, the cost of living has sky-rocketed.
Sit with that for a moment.
I and many others from my generation were raised on that same promise that college was the great equalizer in the job market…and we currently live with the consequences of falling for it, having taken out student loans to secure the dream.
I have news for you…When, for years, the job market has been riddled with wage gaps, most graduates do not even work in the areas where they earned degrees, and overall, the average American salary has been ill-equipped to to support typical graduates with student loans, the system is broken…and has been for a very long time.
Biden’s plan is a nice gesture. But for many of us, it’s not really going to do much to our overall student loan debt balance. Add to that the cost of living anyway…a life of digging ourselves out of debt was basically the real cost of a higher education.
You may refer to the above gifs.
I’m a whole teacher and I support this statement: while education is necessary for any career or profession, college isn’t always the answer and can, in many cases, exacerbate the financial situation of any household.
Should college be a prerequisite of the career you want, apply for all the scholarships and grants you can. Make it so that whatever career you secure upon graduation is not burdened with also having to simultaneously pay down extensive student loan debt. Contrary to what I was led to believe, a college degree does not guarantee a live-able wage for all your efforts.
You’re welcome.
But, this past week, for me, the thing that really took the cake was how many of our country’s politicians objected to the forgiveness of $10-$20K in the first place while having been forgiven of much more in PPP loans themselves.
The hashtag, #thisyou displayed the sheer hypocrisy of some of our country’s elected officials on this matter.
Why we keep electing folks that are in opposition to our good and only feather their own nests…I’ll never know.
Rather than considering college loans, American, college-bound students should instead consider the mentality of the elected officials of the country from which you would be borrowing should your salary not be able to keep up.
In the meantime, while this country continues to bicker over realities I came to grips with years ago, Imma pray the next generations wake up…and just go on and letter something.
