The American Dream?

I have come to a crossroads in my education. I have been in college since fall of 2003 and finished my BA in History in April of 2010. I then started my MA in Psychology through the Chicago School of Professional Psychology's online program in June of 2010. When the Spring of 2011 came, I started to re-evaluate what it was I wanted to do. Ultimately, I want to be a School Psychologist. But I really had no idea where I would start...and this led me to pursue my degree in Education -- my 2nd undergraduate degree.

Unfortunately for me, I have chosen very expensive schools in my journey of education and I knew from the very beginning of my 2nd bachelor's degree that I would not have enough financial aid left to finance the entire degree. At that time, I thought I could save money each month or I could save part of my tax money each year and be able to pay for the rest of my degree myself. After I finished my degree in secondary education and found a job (which I knew would probably not be right away), I would teach and get my foot in the door. By doing this, I would be able to have connections within different school districts and understand the best way to become a school psychologist and how I would go about contracting with school districts to do that.

But then life happened. Babies get sick, parents lose their jobs, unexpected bills take just about every extra penny you have. And now I have made the unbearable decision to withdrawal from school because I was not able to save up the money to finance my degree after my financial aid runs out and it was not be financially responsible of me to rack up a couple thousand more in debt just to not be able to finish until later anyway. And don't even get me started on how in the WORLD I am going to make my student loan payments.

But this leads me to discuss something I have discovered within the past few years and the reality of the "American Dream." In high school, you are encouraged to go to college and get your four year degree because THAT is what will get you a job, the husband/wife, the house with the white picket fence, etc. So we all do that - we go to college, get our degrees and then they tell us that if we want to make more money, we should go and get our master's and doctorate degrees. So we do that, too. All along the way, we have to use financial aid to finance this educational journey that has been presented to us, wrapped with big bows and the promise of money and happiness in life. While some of us are able to get grants and scholarships, many of us come to rely on student loans. And then after we get all our degrees, we are (on average) in debt $80,000...and with jobs that barely pay us $50,000/year...if not LESS. In this economy, it is SURELY less.

So....where is the dream? When do we get to the "financial independence" and "happy family" part of life?

We don't.

That is the ugly truth, folks...we don't get there. We struggle on a daily basis to pack back the loans that the American public and our leaders insisted we get to be able to advance ourselves and serve ourselves, our country, and our economy. And here we are, barely afloat. With no help. No resources. No understanding.

And our dreams? Forget about it. They are done...gone.

And this, of course, leads  me to question what it will be like when my daughter makes the decision to go to college. Although people say that a bachelor's degree is almost essential to getting a successful job these days, I would have to say that you should have even more than that. Which USUALLY means more debt. People say that you should start saving for your child's higher education when they are born...if not before they are born.

So...shoot for the moon kids!! Right??

Is this what it is coming to? EVERYONE should have the chance to have a higher education...but at a price? Is that what I am going to have to say to Emmalynn? I can see it now, "Baby...I am so proud that you got accepted to Yale but your financial aid and scholarships won't cover the cost and I can't afford it so either you get into a mountain of debt or you go to state school. Sorry, pumpkin."

How terrible. How awful.

How can we tell our children to shoot for their dreams when we are not sure we or they can afford them? Will it change? Will it not? I know all this sounds quite socialist but really...why is it okay to live in a country where you have to pay out of your behind for your education and then you don't get a job to help you pay the debt that you had no choice but to accrue to get your "ideal" job? When did education become a privilege and not a right? And how are we all going to explain this to our children?

I am hoping that in 18 years I won't HAVE to explain it to her -- that she will be able to get her higher education and it will be a right...not a privilege.