Dec 12 2009
What are you wistful about?
By
Wyeth's "Christina's World"
January 1, 2010 is now just a few weeks away. One more year gone. What are you wistful about? What do you want to accomplish?
The most tormented I’ve ever felt was when I worked as a secretary at an ad agency in Providence in the early 80s. The son of the owner would come in every now and then, and he was working towards his law degree. The kid had the brain of an avocado, but I knew that soon he’d be outearning me by a ridiculous amount. It made me wistful.
I decided to go for a master’s degree in communications. It felt right. I applied for some very obscure scholarships, and was successful. With my new degree, I went from $5.00/hour to $26K a year.
What are you longing for?
It calls into question the worth of a college education. My wife and I remember being able to pay our own college tuition with bar and wait jobs. What happened to those times? We are teaching that the initiation into the work world starts with debt. So college tuition goes up 33%. Does the quality go up too?