((DUN DUN DUN)) ---The music that I think of as I shudder writing this post title.
Ahh... Student Loans. You are so allusive with your promises of easy looking interest number percentages, the dotted lines that you are required to sign before entering into the hallmark of your educational upbringing in America. But wait a second--aren't there some things that you are leaving out?!?!
Like, Why the H*ll are you letting a whole slew of Eighteen-Year-Olds sign those dotted lines in the first place? We barely learned anything about the REAL WORLD in high school, you idiots. The education system doesn't teach us about how to tap into our true inner potential in order to find meaningful work for the rest of our lives. We just finished winning Super Mario Cart on Wii, and now you expect me to know what to do, with full certainty to sign up for a huge debt?
I tried talking to my counselor in high school. Uhm, they were too busy with the 16 year olds who got caught with cocaine in the bathroom. My classes taught a whole lot of stuff. Most of it is completely meaningless. The only things I think I have used from my education were Chicken Tacos from a FACS class. Now that is useful information. How am I supposed to choose from a whole list of possible future careers when any number of them could be possibly appealing? Not to mention, we have our impressionable young minds dazed about in technology and media already, enough to ask, "What the point is of even going to school?"
When we asked, our teachers lamented. It seems like they didn't really know the answer to that question either. Not to mention, they continuously had to dumb-down material to the lowest common denominator because there is always some lazy jerkoff in the class(who also has the most vocal parents.) Teachers give up trying at a certain degree because the administration cuts more classes, and the government issues the most bland credits possible in order to graduate.
And what is with these multiple choice tests that determine whether or not someone moves onto the next grade? Are you on crack? By the end of this boring ass test(that doesn't really judge individual intelligence) there is probably drool so you cannot even grade the darn things.
I ask you, fellow readers, were you Actually ready for college when you went? Do you have a college degree but are now left wondering, "Well, Now what?"
I feel like this "Now What?" Question is plaguing our country. Most of America's industry has become service-oriented jobs, and there are barely any manufacturing jobs. We go to college to try to make an existence for ourselves, but in the meantime, Rent is getting higher (while your college loans make your credit drop lower), Food is getting more expensive (not to mention laden with Genetically Modified Garbage that actually messes up the DNA in your body's cells), People are unfriendly (Because we are constantly Stressed out), and our Government decides to Bail out Bankers instead of it's future working class-Us, The Sons and Daughters of a Bought Congress. Not to mention, you send thousands and thousands of soldiers over to the middle east to kill people (which spreads more terror and infamy, in the hearts of the Soldiers, and the mid-easterners) only to have them come back to America with PTSD, Alcoholism, Self-Medication, and Suicide.
Why are you killing your people, United States of America? Oh, I see, you want oil to fuel the cars that drive to work in the continually dull cycle that you have put us on repeat. Is that why you made school so boring? So we acquiesce and become a gear in your machine?
Here's some novel ideas... Forgive Student Loan Debt, not the bankers.
Bring Our Troops Home----And use the money for investing in battery-powered cars or alternative means of energy so we are not dependent on oil anymore.
And start redesigning your system, because I gotta tell you, This Circle Sucks, and is not very much fun. It is barely living if you ask me.
As for myself, After horribly dropping out of not 1, not 2, but 3 college/universities in the past 5 years, and traveling all about the country making tons of huge mistakes and trying my best to learn from them I will tell you what I have got. I have finally graduated from Life Class 101-105. I am actually aware, and conscious, for the first time in my life of what I want to study when I go back to school. Not only that, but I have real-world experience, I'm an ace at Directions, and I can probably connect you with someone that can help you in YOUR future, because that is how many people I've met.
Oh, America. One Nation Under God? I don't think so. I think your rulers have been bought out by the devil, and we are a Nation Under the Grim Reaper. Do we need a God movement in America? I think we do, because I think a lot of people have lost touch of who God actually is in this country. And I bet he is more sad than anything else. I bet he's up there wondering, "When are these Americans going to realize what is going on? When are they going to start changing there system? Why is it taking so long?" This is what God is thinking.
So I might be the exception but I was ready for college and understood what implications student loans brought. Also I've wanted to be the same thing since I was 5 : a ceo. Now I work in as an analyst in IT in corporate america and working my way there. But I was lucky I didn't need to get a loan til my senior year. I've always be a planner and understood all the details before making a decision. I think it takes that personality to be ready for it. Most everyone I know are in your position Portia. But the government won't change anytime soon until voters understand that congress and senate positions are the people who really make the laws. I agree our focus as americans needs to shift to more sustainable resources and get rid of the fatty foods so our children grow up healthy and not obese. For the teacher comment, I disagree. My mom and sister are teachers in NWI and they work their butts off for those kids. These kids are in a more impoverished area than you grew up. The problem lies with parents who don't help or dont want to help their kids learn and government leaders who think they are making helpful education laws but are not. Truth is these lawmakers haven't had teaching experience for a long time or ever. So our teachers have to comply with standards that don't allow their students to learn. They have to teach to have their students pass standardized tests. Also a masters degree for a teacher does not matter in the state of indiana anymore. You would think as an educator you would get more money for furthering your education as you are setting an example for our nations future. But no those teachers earn the same as teachers with just a bachelors degree. The standards imposed on teachers are to find the bad teachers and weed them out and that was a good intent. But now its not allowing our truly talented teachers to do what they do best. Get kids excited about learning and find out as they go through K-12 what they want to do in life by exploring many areas because they have been inspired to learn by their teachers.
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