can we say RIP to all the college edjumacations that aren't worth the paper the degeres are prinetd on?

[fabulouslyghetto]

Don't worry this funeral ain't gone be long a bij got thangs to do.

I'm using the computer of a friend I'm housesitting for to work on a few projects and a random thought occured to me. Years ago he went to one of those super suspect online schools, did the predatory loan thing and everything, now most of the tech he prolly learned how to use/fix/whatever is obselete. The only reason I'm using one now is because my writing process is just like when I give blowjobs, needs to involve my fingers dancing around the keyboard/testicles. Do people even use computers anymore? Everything is on pads now and I can't remember the last time I saw somebody using a bonafide laptop or PC, the people that do use them are probably using mega high-tech Tony Stark computers that only geniuses know how to use. Anyway my friend graduated like 5 years ago and he's still working the same job he's been at for 20 years, ProofthatthereisnoGod-Mart. It's not an unhappy ending, apparently he's doing well cuz I housesit for him like at least once a month, this ninja is rackin up them frequent flyer miles.

Anyway as we step into a new era of almost everything since the world as we know it is clearly bout to bust I think we should pour out a little ilquor for all them dead degrees, for the folks who are drowning in debt and all their degree is really good for is maybe placing over their face as a mask to prevent the water from getting into their air passageways and shit.

I was thiiiis close to going to school AKA into debt for a career in forensic science but I'm glad I didn't, just learned that the whole field is pretty much a crock of shit with no real experts and much of the science behind it is flimsy at best, somebody on da tv said literally you need more credentials to be a licensed beautician than you need to be considered a forensics expert. CHILE! I was bout to be one of them frauds sending the wrong person to jail cuz apparently that whole hair analysis shit they be doing on CSI has a 95% FAILURE rate. #oops

 

[USEDCAR]

I worked with a lady and she told me her son was going to school for dancing. I told her what kind of work he's going to find in that field and she tried to explain random jobs. I am like this lady is going to let her son rack up debt to go to school for dancing instead of talking him out of it.


People go to school for things and never research the job market and whats the growth is like, its insane.

 

[ShadowCat]

My idiot cousin got a degree in history...He doesn't do ANYTHING WITH HISTORY!

 

[Alistair]

Archeology. You have to get your doctorate because the only job you can get is a Professor teaching other dumbasses archaeology. Same for art history.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I worked with a lady and she told me her son was going to school for dancing. I told her what kind of work he's going to find in that field and she tried to explain random jobs. I am like this lady is going to let her son rack up debt to go to school for dancing instead of talking him out of it.


People go to school for things and never research the job market and whats the growth is like, its insane.

I gotta say dancing seems as legit a pursuit as anything else?

Right now somebody is getting paid probably 10k to spend 6 hours showing Taylor Swift the most basic two-step in the world for her next music video. That one job is going to earn them just under half of what some people make in a year.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

It's all about moving around debt. All of it.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

It's all about moving around debt. All of it.

I had that same exact though, epiphany really, yesterday. America is debt masquerading as extravagence, convincing poor people their destiny in life is to do the grunt work to keep funding aspen ski trips for people who have never done two minutes of actual work.

Since you're here, I have a confession Harkie Boo. I cheated on you with Belly.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Since you're here, I have a confession Harkie Boo. I cheated on you with Belly.

That's not physically possible.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

That's not physically possible.

Oh trust me, there isn't anything my hole can't accomodate.

 

[rareboy]

I made a killing out of mine...but I was from an incredibly privileged generation of lower middle class white folk in Ontario that benefitted from the Red Tories under William Davis, my most beloved premier.

I paid off my student loans by the time I was 30.

But I would note that I went after a specialized professional degree that at one time meant you would get payback.

Now, I think you do it for love.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh trust me, there isn't anything my hole can't accomodate.

mmmm hmmmmm.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I made a killing out of mine...but I was from an incredibly privileged generation of lower middle class white folk in Ontario that benefitted from the Red Tories under William Davis, my most beloved premier.

I paid off my student loans by the time I was 30.

But I would note that I went after a specialized professional degree that at one time meant you would get payback.

Now, I think you do it for love.

- - - Updated - - -



mmmm hmmmmm.

Stories like this give me hope, you CAN have it all. Study a lucrative field that you actually enjoy. Can't wait til that becomes the norm here in the US and worldwide. Although sometimes I think so far ahead to when all the work will be done by robots and we're free to pursue our passions period, no strings attached.

Speaking of no strings attached, looks like my Jak'd date is pulling up. Be back in 8 minutes, girls.

 

[ShadowCat]

Wish there was something simple and lucrative that is covid proof preferably work from home til this thing disappears!

 

[jjonn3]

I think that when applying for a student loan you should have to sign a statement saying

"I (name) being of sound mind understand and accept that I am applying for a loan in the amount of ($30000) to major in (art history, etc) where the average annual starting salary in the field is ($22000).

That might get some of the people to think about what they are majoring in and not just think "I like going to museums - I will major in art history!"

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I think that when applying for a student loan you should have to sign a statement saying

"I (name) being of sound mind understand and accept that I am applying for a loan in the amount of ($30000) to major in (art history, etc) where the average annual starting salary in the field is ($22000).

That might get some of the people to think about what they are majoring in and not just think "I like going to museums - I will major in art history!"

what if the institutions had to do the same?

I xxxxx of sound mind and body understand that I am draining the life out of this person and chaining them to crippling debt that could in the event of the slightest emergency or unforseen disaster cripple them financially forever and ever amen

 

[rareboy]

Stories like this give me hope, you CAN have it all. Study a lucrative field that you actually enjoy. Can't wait til that becomes the norm here in the US and worldwide. Although sometimes I think so far ahead to when all the work will be done by robots and we're free to pursue our passions period, no strings attached.

Speaking of no strings attached, looks like my Jak'd date is pulling up. Be back in 8 minutes, girls.

I was so appreciative of my gains because of middle class lily white boy privilege that I funded a scholastic/social warrior award in the memory of my absolutely favourite English Lit teacher...this is what I am looking for everyone to do. Don't waste the accumulations of your life on relatives if they are either undeserving or don't need it....use your life to give a boost to others lees fortunate than you.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

I was so appreciative of my gains because of middle class lily white boy privilege that I funded a scholastic/social warrior award in the memory of my absolutely favourite English Lit teacher...this is what I am looking for everyone to do. Don't waste the accumulations of your life on relatives if they are either undeserving or don't need it....use your life to give a boost to others lees fortunate than you.

I wanna say Joni Mitchell maybe Toni Morrison phrased that exact sentiment beautifully and I havent been able to stop thinking about it since I read the quote last night. "The purpose of freedom is to free someone else."

 

[rareboy]

Yup. That is it.

And our attention in education has been to support the indigenous kids in Canada...and to help build and sustain the top performing school on the Tibetan plateau.

It isn't always bout the money you throw at the problem...it is about working together as a collective affinity to make it happen.

 

[fabulouslyghetto]

Yup. That is it.

And our attention in education has been to support the indigenous kids in Canada...and to help build and sustain the top performing school on the Tibetan plateau.

It isn't always bout the money you throw at the problem...it is about working together as a collective affinity to make it happen.

I will pay you to move to America and run for congress. After I put on my negotiating panties (velcro on the side for no-fuss removal) I'm on the 1st thing smoking to canada so we can hammer out the details.

 

[rareboy]

I will pay you to move to America and run for congress. After I put on my negotiating panties (velcro on the side for no-fuss removal) I'm on the 1st thing smoking to canada so we can hammer out the details.

 

[Latimer]

It is axiomatic that these days the primary mission of the academic establishment is its self-perpetuation and continued growth. Its primary utility to society is distributing wealth, providing employment for its various functionaries, and keeping kids off the street. It may disseminate knowledge, teach skills, critical thinking, etc., etc., but these are all secondary and tertiary to the primary mission. I've read that a few years ago a study was done of Harvard students in the Liberal Arts both when they began their studies and four years later when they ended them that showed that critical thinking had in fact declined over that period.

I am very critical of and cynical about higher education. However, my own experience, and the experience of most people I know has been a good one.

While I had known I would be an architect from the time I was a young boy, I chose to take a first degree in History, and pursue a degree in Architecture as a graduate student. In the US, one qualifies to take the licensing exam after a period of both education and apprenticeship, or simply apprenticeship. I therefore might have skipped university entirely and reached the same goal, but I was neither creative nor daring enough to do so. Besides, I like school. and always thrived in the various academic environments I entered. Moreover, the History degree (which evolved in my final year to a study of the architectural works of Brunelleschi and Michelangelo) later opened the door to teaching both Art History and Architectural History on the university level. Most importantly for my own pleasure and edification, my undergraduate education as a student in the so-called Liberal Arts allowed me to take courses not simply in history but also in astronomy, classics, philosophy, literature, language and studio art. None of these disciplines were necessary to my goal of becoming an architect, but they were valuable nonetheless.

In my own family, my father is a civil engineer, but his first degree is in English Literature, one brother has an undergraduate degree in Philosophy and a graduate degree in Italian Literature, which he now teaches, and another brother has an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering, followed by a graduate degree in Business, and now works for a hedge fund. My partner has a degree in Political Science (whatever that may be) and then proceeded to law school. He now specializes in IT law, which he didn't study in school. My best high school friend has a history degree from the university which recruited him to be on the golf team. He expected fame and fortune as a pro golfer; that didn't work out, and he is now working with a major international management consulting company, where I expect a Stanford degree helped open the door, and stellar looks and perfect manners propelled his rise.

Which is all to say that for myself and my family and friends from high school and college, very few of us took undergraduate degrees in "practical" disciplines: the first degree was a stepping stone.

A coda: I have a client, a second-generation Italian American who was the first member of her family to go to college. She did so on a student loan and studied design and photography. She then spent a year working as a photographer's assistant, came to believe she had little chance of making a good living as a photographer, and decided to go to business school, again with a student loan. Upon graduating she landed a job with an investment bank, made enough money her first year to pay back all of the loans, married another investment banker and is now rich enough to hire me,