My dad recently visited town and he added a subtle reminder that I will be 25 in six months. For some reason, this struck a hard chord. It made me uncomfortable. With age, come societal expectations set up by older generations. Older generations with an idea of working America that no longer exists.
Post-graduate life has been hard, especially since I hit the job market running when the economic stability resembled a mild great-depression. My life greatly resembles the article, “Educated, Unemployed and Frustrated” (NY Times, Op/Ed)
While driving in the car today with a friend down a winding two lane Texas highway, I realized my generation might, and probably will be, the first generation that makes less money than our parents. We were raised with the expectations of the 90's, a time of prosperous growth, social complacency and the boom of the Internet.
I now know this working America is gone. I am not sure how to navigate a society that does not foster and grow with young, hard working, educated, intelligent individuals. But, regardless, I feel for most of my friends who are graduating college and entering the fierce, unforgiving shackles of the work-a-day world.
However, for me, graduating college five months after the banking crisis and the housing collapse has definitely put a unique perspective on the ideology of working, of economic stability, and what it means to be a young educated person in America.
http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/recession_depression/
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