Higher Education

So now that I’m about to graduate, I’ve been reflecting on what that actually means. I’m currently sitting in my economics class- arguably the hardest class I’ve ever taken as the T.A. doesn’t speak English very well, skips slides when we ask him a question, and is awful about actually getting anyone to learn the concepts he’s trying to teach. He just handed back our tests. I got an 8 out of 20. Am I proud of this grade? No. Did I originally think I bombed it? Yes. Then he starts talking about how EVERYONE did very poorly, and he scaled an 8/20 to a B. Just turned my morning from super crappy to actually a decent grade in a difficult class. I only took this class when I was considering going to UConn for grad school, as it is a required prerequisite for the Agriculture and Resource Economics Master’s Program. Seeing as I’m not going to UConn, this class is pointless as it’s not stimulating and I’m not actually learning a single thing. If you’re on top of things, you’d notice that I’m writing this post during my class, but believe me, paying attention would get me literally nowhere, as I can’t understand the guy. A grade of a B in a course that I’m essentially teaching myself isn’t so bad. Especially since I’m taking 6 classes this semester, finishing my honors thesis, volunteering at Mystic Aquarium, and working at Panera Bread. I’ve never been so busy as I have this year. Two of my classes are essentially optional, this economics class and my Marine Fisheries and Policy class. I like the topic though and the professor for that is wonderful, so I could never drop that one. I’m sort of convinced that my degree would not benefit me at all, though, if I wasn’t going to graduate school. I was reading in the news that 1 in 2 college graduates graduating this year will not be able to find a job or will work somewhere that has no relation to their degree (i.e. if I kept working at Panera). An economist at the University of California noted that jobs requiring less education (such as waitress or cashier) are being filled by people with a bachelor’s degree rather than high-school graduates. But then where do the people that cannot afford a college education/ don’t have the motivation or desire to go after that higher education go? With a cycle like this unemployment and welfare will be on the rise and the divide between the educated and uneducated (and now unemployed) will increase. Here’s the link to that website about the job market for 2012 graduates: http://new.m.yahoo.com/w/ygo-frontpage/lp/story/us/2235783/coke.bp?ref_w=frontdoors&.ysid=GBTCvo1HnAz0UNvbG26OOQfz&.intl=US&.lang=en