Education Snob
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m an education snob. In my line of work, I come across quite a few people with very little education. The nature of my position puts me in contact most often with the ones who have “barriers to employment.” Most times, this includes limited education, often less than a high school diploma or GED.
I think I’ve always been a bit of an education snob. While my parents never pressured my sister and I to go to college, they also made us aware that they valued education and would support us in the pursuit of it. I’m not sure whether it was mostly their influence or my own, but I never once considered not going to college and getting at least a BA. Of course, when I was growing up (and it wasn’t that long ago, Gentle Reader) a high school education was sufficient to earn a living. A college degree of any kind was money in the bank and endless opportunity. My, how times have changed.
As life went on and I pursued my education, things were changing in the world around me. Three and a half years (and two majors) into my degree, I realized that I still hadn’t found the career I wanted. Right around that time, I foolishly let myself get pregnant, which sped up the dropping-out process by one semester. You see, it would have been four years at that point, and my scholarship was set to run out. My scholarship. Tuition, fees, room & board, book allowance. A four-year free ride that I basically pissed away. I wish I could blame it all on the father of my first two children, but the responsibility for that rests clearly on my own head, and is mostly due to my indecision about a career (though I doubt my parents will ever fully believe that it wasn’t all his fault).
So. I became a wife, which with the right partner is a completely rewarding experience – or so I’ve heard – and a mother, which is no-holds-barred the most important thing I will ever do. Meet my kids, and you’ll know why I say that. Still, things being what they were, I was pretty much the breadwinner of the family, and by that time it was pretty hard to be a breadwinner without higher education. I went back to school when my oldest was about to turn 2 and my now-middle was 7 months old. The following semester, I left their father. It took me a total of three years, two and a half of them as a single mother receiving no child support, to get my BA, all because I knew I could never support them the way they deserved without it. A few months after graduation, I got my first “professional” job. Two and a half years (and one child) later, though, I was laid off. No worries, I thought, because I have a BA and a certificate. I’ll find a job in a heartbeat, especially now that I also have experience.
I was out of work for 11 months. The first six, I was on unemployment, which doesn’t pay much. Luckily, the law that extended unemployment was still in effect, so that took care of three more months. Then it was December, and Grams’ Christmas check saved my butt. Then my tax refund, which wasn’t near as much as I was expecting because I hadn’t worked much that year. I was at the end of my rope, down to my last $200 or so, and frustrated because I saw listings for literally hundreds of jobs I could do – but they all required either a Master’s degree or the ability to speak Spanish. Knowing I had to do something to make myself more marketable, and knowing I couldn’t possibly become fluent in Spanish that quickly, I applied to grad school.
I got my acceptance letter about two weeks after I started my new job. So I had to make a decision again. I couldn’t afford to quit my wonderful new job. I also couldn’t afford not to go after my MSW, just in case I ever wound up laid off again. Sure enough, 13 months later as I was preparing for finals in my second semester, I was laid off again. Thankfully, this time it only took me a month to start working; I had my second interview for the job I now hold, the day after I took my last final. The job which, ironically, puts me in contact daily with people who not only don’t have a diploma or GED, but who honestly don’t see why they need one, or why they can’t get a job that pays $15 an hour without one.
Can you see now why I’m such an education snob?
I think I’ve always been a bit of an education snob. While my parents never pressured my sister and I to go to college, they also made us aware that they valued education and would support us in the pursuit of it. I’m not sure whether it was mostly their influence or my own, but I never once considered not going to college and getting at least a BA. Of course, when I was growing up (and it wasn’t that long ago, Gentle Reader) a high school education was sufficient to earn a living. A college degree of any kind was money in the bank and endless opportunity. My, how times have changed.
As life went on and I pursued my education, things were changing in the world around me. Three and a half years (and two majors) into my degree, I realized that I still hadn’t found the career I wanted. Right around that time, I foolishly let myself get pregnant, which sped up the dropping-out process by one semester. You see, it would have been four years at that point, and my scholarship was set to run out. My scholarship. Tuition, fees, room & board, book allowance. A four-year free ride that I basically pissed away. I wish I could blame it all on the father of my first two children, but the responsibility for that rests clearly on my own head, and is mostly due to my indecision about a career (though I doubt my parents will ever fully believe that it wasn’t all his fault).
So. I became a wife, which with the right partner is a completely rewarding experience – or so I’ve heard – and a mother, which is no-holds-barred the most important thing I will ever do. Meet my kids, and you’ll know why I say that. Still, things being what they were, I was pretty much the breadwinner of the family, and by that time it was pretty hard to be a breadwinner without higher education. I went back to school when my oldest was about to turn 2 and my now-middle was 7 months old. The following semester, I left their father. It took me a total of three years, two and a half of them as a single mother receiving no child support, to get my BA, all because I knew I could never support them the way they deserved without it. A few months after graduation, I got my first “professional” job. Two and a half years (and one child) later, though, I was laid off. No worries, I thought, because I have a BA and a certificate. I’ll find a job in a heartbeat, especially now that I also have experience.
I was out of work for 11 months. The first six, I was on unemployment, which doesn’t pay much. Luckily, the law that extended unemployment was still in effect, so that took care of three more months. Then it was December, and Grams’ Christmas check saved my butt. Then my tax refund, which wasn’t near as much as I was expecting because I hadn’t worked much that year. I was at the end of my rope, down to my last $200 or so, and frustrated because I saw listings for literally hundreds of jobs I could do – but they all required either a Master’s degree or the ability to speak Spanish. Knowing I had to do something to make myself more marketable, and knowing I couldn’t possibly become fluent in Spanish that quickly, I applied to grad school.
I got my acceptance letter about two weeks after I started my new job. So I had to make a decision again. I couldn’t afford to quit my wonderful new job. I also couldn’t afford not to go after my MSW, just in case I ever wound up laid off again. Sure enough, 13 months later as I was preparing for finals in my second semester, I was laid off again. Thankfully, this time it only took me a month to start working; I had my second interview for the job I now hold, the day after I took my last final. The job which, ironically, puts me in contact daily with people who not only don’t have a diploma or GED, but who honestly don’t see why they need one, or why they can’t get a job that pays $15 an hour without one.
Can you see now why I’m such an education snob?
posted by SaraSmile | 8:53 AM
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