The Thoughts of an 18 Year Old.....

My daughter is 18 and has just completed her first year of college. We were talking about how difficult it is for middle class kids to afford to go to college, student loans, how much she'll owe when she's done, etc.

I am thankful she is able to go. That said - she is distressed and she's worried.

My beautiful, talented and highly intelligent daughter told me she thinks it might be a waste to attend four years of college and pharmacy school because she doesn't think she, her generation - this country - has a future. She is convinced the economy is going to collapse due to corporate greed and she'll have a very hard life in the coming years. She thinks she'll live like a nomad, traveling around from place to place.

As we talked, she said a lot of her friends feel this way too.

I'm curious...does anyone have a child this age, and have you heard this sort of thing from them? I'm torn between telling her I agree (which I do) or telling her not to worry that everything will be fine.

is the news. The news in 100% negative, and if you are bombarded with THE WORLD IS ENDING!! every single day on the internet, tv, radio etc etc your going to start to believe it. The country is not broke, we need to make some major changes to get back on the right track though. College is essential if you want to make any kind of money in the future. If may take a little while to pay off but someone with a college degree makes more then a million dollar more on average in their life time then someone with just a high school degree. Gone are the days when you can gradate from high school and get a job at a factory till you retire. You need some kind of specialized training, if you want to be anything other then lower middle class to down right poor.

She is genuinely worried; but I did say she needs to keep plugging along and to try to not think so negatively. I remember as a kid during the cold war, I thought the world would be annihilated by nukes at any time.

... within a few years when I went to college.

The thing is, you have to live your life as if nothing like that will happen because these sort of disasters are beyond our ability to prepare for. Should our economy collapse, she's about as likely to benefit from her education as she is to suffer from it.

How much of these kids' world views and pessimistic outlook have they absorbed directly from their parents?

We don't watch the news and I'm pretty optimistic and upbeat. Consequently, my teenager is not thinking the sky is falling.

College is NOT necessary if you learn a specialized skill--vocational training and an apprenticeship are still a good pathway to success in certain trades. That's a minority, to be sure, but it's real.

and apprenticeship are sometimes kind of an exclusive thing, that if you don't know someone in that trade, its really hard to get involved. But I meant you need some kind of training after high school or you are probably not going anywhere in life.

It just doesn't have to be a 4-year liberal arts degree. There are other paths, was what I was saying.

I've always been optimistic, felt that I could part of changing things for the better, but right now I see an overwhelming, convoluted mass of legislation, tax breaks, financial favors, etc. that give corporations the right to extract every penny from working people.

I don't feel depressed, just aware of how bad it really is.

It is no longer safe to assume that they can make a decent, stable middle class living in this country.

Another sentiment she expressed is the false belief that everything is better in this country....it isn't.

on so many levels. :(

My daughter is graduating from high school this year. Because of our financial situation, the only viable opportunity for her career path will take her from NC to Seattle.

Seattle is great; but it's a much greater distance than either of us anticipated, and it's going to be really, really rough. :cry:

Compound that with the same outlook your daughter expressed, and it's really heartbreaking for so many families. The parents are sandwiched between seniors who are barely making ends meet (or relying on those same senior parents TO make ends meet), struggling paycheck to paycheck themselves, and now their children are losing sight of a future.

It's all so....unnecessary. Capitalism run amok, politicians and systems without integrity, and an apathetic citizenry are a toxic cocktail for societal decay.

It needn't be this way.

:cry:

I am sorry to hear your daughter has to move so far away...I am fortunate mine is still close. Our generation is in a very tough place and it's hard to stay optimistic. What can we do, other than to tell ourselves no matter what happens, we will survive? :hug:

I can't even think about the Seattle thing without crying. :cry:

So, I'm not going to think about it for now. ;)

:hug:

her future might be brighter than she thinks depending on what vocation she follows.

A whole lot of Baby Boomers are going to need medical care...and meds...in the coming years.

That should keep her busy for years to come, I would think.

110 years old. Despite what they say on cnBS

and if there is a collapse, she'd have skills that will be useful and help others. So at least she realizes she needs to keep going to school.

With all the horrible weather going on, I think the climate will be the downfall sooner rather than later. I am glad there won't be any descendants of mine to be worried about.

She thinks that our President walks on water and does not want to hear anything negative concerning him or his policies.

I appreciate your post...however, I have found the opposite to be true. Anyone born during or after the 1980's has no idea what it is like to have a true Dem in the WH.

-P

Scholarships, or Mooching off My Parents" by
Zac Bissonnette

Kid's attitudes often are picked up from parents. Do you see the world as a bitter place in decline? Turn off the news/net and have some fun.

There are three of them. The middle one will be a junior this year. She's at Virginia Tech. The youngest will join her this year at Tech come August. A fair amount of the financing is grants and scholarships with the balance in loans. Are they worried about what will happen in the world given where we're at today? Sure.

Has it slowed them down any? Not in the least.

What I hear from them is: Why are people wasting so much time when there's so much that needs getting done? They have very little tolerance for broken promises by politicians, none for corrupt corporations, and the wars are complete waste of everything in their view.

The middle one is planning to add a year or two to get an MBA and then in her words, we will see what's out there. The youngest plans on medical school and that plan hasn't changed from the fourth grade. Her back up plan is a PHD that she can use for medical research.

The oldest of the three, at 25, runs her own business, she dropped out of college to find herself. She found she's really good at running a business. She is taking classes and will finish a degree some time in the future.

They are smart and hard working. They fully expect the world to be there. Today. Tomorrow. And many many years from now.

Hope this helps.

My son will be 18 in 2 weeks, and will leave for college in August.

We also went through something like this in the 80s. I went to college, so did my wife, and we've have done well.

However, we both had to leave our home states.

Your daughter needs to be ready to move. She needs to be ready to change cities, or states. She needs to consider where she wants to live.

When I left Philly, most of the folks I knew had never left Philly. The idea of moving was crazy to them.

I tell my kids that after college, they will need to be ready to move.