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Monday, April 4, 2011

It Really is All About the Money


Grad Students, Listen up:
So, you have finally come to the end of the education train. You suffered all those days through high school and college, and even graduate school. You made it out alive and in one piece. You can frame your diploma and put it up on the wall. You are free. Aren’t you lucky? Or, are you? 


Those two years of grad school were the most difficult years of my life academically. There were three constants in my life for the whole 2 years—worry, writing, and research. My life consisted of going to class, tutoring students, making no money, taking out more loans, eating food that only took seconds to prepare, writing papers, and an endless amount of reading dusty books in the library in order to complete yet another 20 page research paper. It went on and on like this until that glorious day in May when I graduated. I never thought it would come and then it did and I felt just like you. I was proud, relieved, and exhausted, but most of all, I was hopeful for the future. 


I could finally set my sights on all of those things I wanted to do, but couldn’t during grad school. I could go get some drinks with friends or I could eat dinner at a beach front restaurant and watch the sun set. I could go see a movie with my friends and not feel guilty about wasting time. My time was my own. I was free! But, yet I wasn’t. I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have a job. I didn’t have a purpose. Now the feeling of panic that gnawed at me during grad school was back, but this time it was replaced with terrifying questions about how I was actually going to survive. How was I going to eat, rent a place, gill up my gas tank, and most of all pay back all those loans that helped me do all this stuff just a few weeks ago when I was in the sweet embrace of grad school. How lucky I was then. 


Do you see where I am going with all this?
My point is-- enjoy your time in school. Once you are finished, there are no more excuses. You have to find a job, pay your bills, and in most cases, get up every morning at 7 AM to do it. If you are lucky, you will actually manage to pay all of your bills at the end of the month, but most likely, you will scrounge for awhile to make the minimum payments on your credit card bills, pay rent, and keep the electricity, water, and cable on. You may work 2 or 3 jobs just to ensure that the bare minimum is paid for in your life. It really is all about money when you’re a 20-something.

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