The Cheat Sheet

I’m 23 and graduated Missouri State University in 2010. I was originally accepted into a top tier school, however my family is not well off and my mother had terminal cancer that took up all of our extra funds. I refuse to go into debt so instead I went to state school on a full academic scholarship. I always believed that once I had my degree I’d be able to land my first job, even if it wasn’t a very good one. I worked hard to maintain good academic status, taking care of my sick mother on weekends. I never worked so I could have time to take care of her. Even when my mother died my senior year and my father nearly killed himself because of it I managed to squeak by with only one D. I thought I was doing everything right. No one ever told me that having my degree wouldn’t be enough.

But then when I graduated with a BS in anthropology I learned that there were no jobs for me. Every job I could find in my field required at least five years experience, and even those are few and far between. There are unpaid internships, but I can’t afford that. I want to get my graduate degree, even switch to a less fulfilling but more employable degree, but I can’t afford the tuition and after my mother’s life insurance was cashed in I’m no longer considered poor enough for financial aid. But of course I can’t ask my father for that money. I’m currently living with him and have no savings.

I applied for waitressing positions in my home town, but no one’s hiring someone with no experience and socially awkward to boot. I applied to every job I could find, only to receive a handful of interviews and no job offers. The only work I’ve managed to find is to go to the school district where my mother worked and use her connections to get a job substitute teaching. It’s painful to see my mother’s friends every day and to have them constantly bring her up, but I have no other options. I don’t want to be a teacher. It makes me miserable. I go to work, thankful that I have something and haven’t ended up homeless, and then I sit in my car and cry before I drive home so my father won’t see.

— narucest

I’m a 22-year-old. I worked three jobs and took the maximum of 21 credit hours in order to graduate a semester early from a state school.

Did that work pay off?  I am a semester less in debt.

Less than a month after walking across that stage, I moved from central Illinois to New York City for a… drum roll... UNPAID INTERNSHIP!

Woohoo!

Living on savings (and a few musical performances in the NYC subway), I lived in the smallest space in the most expensive city.

Let’s just say that $1 slices of pizza were my best friends.

Fast-forward and I feel lucky to no longer be working for free and I am working for the same organization that originally brought me out here.

I’m still screwed, however, because I’m NOT a full time employee and I’m still living in the most expensive city in the country.

But if I learned ANYTHING from college, it was that hard work doesn’t always give you a paycheck (and I’d rather work for free than take on debt). 

— rewordthatlastphrase

I graduated in June and have one of those American McDreamy stories journalists love to profile for these kinds of stories. Daughter of immigrant parents who work their way up to the middle class and send their first born to Dartmouth, their second to Berkeley. Do all sorts of rad things in college but now face a downturned economy and dim prospects.

I’ve stopped reading those articles.

Sure, they bring awareness to our circumstances and help garner sympathy for our plight but for once I’d like to see an advice column, opinion piece, or tweet about how Millennials are an innovative and creative group of people that are going to find the secret to happiness or at least redefine what it means to be successful. Because if the boomers throw us a bone—maybe in the form of student loan forgiveness or an expansion of Americorps—that’s just what we’d do. 

— caritademoscamuerta

I’m a 21 year old graduate student.  I graduated this past May with a BA in English, and I’m finishing up my first semester as a grad student (my Master of Arts in Teaching program makes grad students start their classes a week after undergraduate graduation so that we’re only in school for one more year).  The last few months have been kind of strange, as I’m still a student at the same university, and most of my best friends are now unemployed, or are working seasonal/part-time positions.  

A few of my friends are doing well, though, and have been hired for positions they actually enjoy, but most of the updates I’ve heard from friends include,

“Still working part-time at a country club.”

“Just took another waitressing position.”

“I sent out nine job applications this week, bringing this month’s total to 17.”

and “God, you’re so lucky to still be in school.” 

I guess I am lucky, but I feel guilty. Guilty because I don’t have to send applications out all the time, or be constantly checking my phone for calls about a job.  Guilty because my grad program isn’t cheap (I feel indebted to my parents, though they’ve told me not to worry).

And while I try to remain optimistic about getting a teaching position a year from now (my goal is to be a middle or high school English teacher), many of my classmates are not so optimistic.  They usually shoot me down when I suggest that we’ll all be okay, maybe because their friends are struggling, too, and they’re nervous about the future.  I feel as though they think that I don’t worry about not getting hired.  I do worry.  No matter how optimistic I try to be, I still have some doubt in my mind.  Science, math, and special ed teachers are more in demand, and I’m only English.  But I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing (studying/working hard) and hopefully everything will work out after I get my MAT. 

Life for our generation isn’t going to be easy, but that’s not a good reason to be pessimistic (or mean to other people). I think our generation is going to have to do some re-evaluating of our own values…what we think happiness and success are to us. 

— sashanako

Submit your own or post to your own Tumblr with the tag “Generation Screwed”

I’m 25. I’m a full-time print journalist. I’m lucky to be employed. I’m overqualified to be where I am. I’m confused about where I can go next. I’m confused about where I should go next. I feel sorry for myself about 10 percent of the time, but suck it up because I live in America. I have freedoms. I live on Twitter. I sleep on Tumblr. I’m learning Instagram. I don’t claim to know as much as others do, but I try my best to learn. As for now, I’m just trying to keep my head above water until I can calmly take the world by storm. 

— rowdiness

My name is Joseph, I am a 19-year old art/film student at UCSC—the most expensive school in the UC system. My parents have always told me since I was little that they would put me through four years of school. The tuition at UCSC is absurd, and I now doubt that they will be able to, with the ever-rising cost—if I’m lucky I’ll get out in four years. The school has been accepting more wealthy out-of-state and international students, while students from California are losing opportunities. I just completed my first year of school and I’m already being screwed on all fronts. UCSC has been offering less and less classes, and I feel like I’m getting nothing in return for my money, and for my hard work. Really, I am getting nothing in return because today a college degree is virtually worthless in the job market. However, I am optimistic, I feel like there are things that made past generations successful that are beyond simple luck and timing. Save your money, think ahead, and don’t be afraid to try anything for yourself.

— buffalo-skinners

I was brought to the US by my parents when I was 10. I didn’t want to leave home but I quickly fell in love with this country as well. I am a recent graduate with no job and 13 thousand dollars in debt. I want to work to improve the status of all people in this world but can’t get a job or internship in a non-profit. My father was deported. My mother works her butt off cleaning house in Florida even though she is college educated back in our home country. I want better for my little sister. 

— Francis

I’m 23 and currently getting my Masters degree. My parents didn’t make me work when I was in high school, and as such I didn’t get my first paying job till the summer after I graduated.  My parents were more than willing and able to support me, but then they got divorced and my dad took everything. He continued to support me through college, and then decided I was no longer a ‘worthy investment.’ Now Mom and I are struggling. I’ve since ended up taking loans for grad school. I will be finishing my program in a few months with even more qualifications, but also a depressing job market and a bank account consisting entirely of loans. 

— spygel