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The student loan trap (rant thread)

Salem_is_tired said:
At the moment I'm a really broke uni student who tries to look for a job she doesn't hate that much, so I never had the chance to actually talk back to the assholes but God I wish I did. I don't know what is the system like at your place, but when I started I had a "teacher/red capped" dude who was supposed to show me how the things were going. Long story short, the Guy was fucking useless, did not show me shit and at one point straight up refused to work with me (I still don't know what was his fucking problem, I'm a naturally really quiet person) and when I told him a will be closing with him, he always rolled his eyes and sighed "Great" (the only time I talked back :D I smiled at him and with the sweetest voice I replayed "Trust me, I'm just as happy as you pal." or something like that as I passed him by.)

So even most of my co-workers were assholes. I still keep in contact with like, one guy who worked in the "kitchen" (you know, "the cooks" who prepare the chicken) one other dude whom I was packing the food, and maybe the cashier girls were the ones I actually felt comfortable to be around - the rest were arrogant assholes, thinking too highly of themselves and act so fucking annoyed when I messed up something on my like... 5-6 day?

Oh and the managers, fuck. We had a woman, who was like a head shorter than me and her brows were always moving or jumping (Idk, maybe something to do whit her nerves I guess?). She had a shift when "the rock" (hygienic inspector, every three months) showed up, and she was basically in my ass all the time, because I "did nothing as it was supposed to be done"... BITCH, NO ONE FUCKING SHOWED ME HOW I SUPPOSED TO DO THIS SHIT ACCORTING TO THE STANDARTS. God fucking Lord, I did not even know how to put together a cheeseburger "according to the standers" and that bitch breath down to my neck and send me to broom out the whole place - something I was quite happy to do so, at least it put a bit of a distance between us till the The Rock left.)

To be honest, looking back I definitely should have been more "aggressive" so to say, but it was a fucking fight to find a summer gag, I just wanted to keep my head as low as I could. And there is no fucking way I going back - not because "it is not good enough" or some elitist shit like that, all my summer jobs were kitchen-related till this point actually, I'm just looking for something more stable and easier (If everything goes as I plan, I will finish y Ba next semester, and I wan to start the Ma right after it, and I just know I could not handle something as physically demanding as fucking KFC)
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My friend, truly in no way to my wishes, v v vastly contrary to point of desperation raging disappointment and heartbreak even!

The truth that in my own life's observation sadly most PEOPLE can be assholes.


However I don't know think it comes down to where one lives necessarily ofc with context & variance, but importantly who one is.

Some people are naturally so powerful, intuitive, clean minded quick witted always steps ahead psychologically so any single being I swear, who attempts behaving derogatating trash to such quiet mixed into/extrovert deep secure non alpha types, are not only immune to any single fake or fraud....


But blinding kryptonite to their low vibration.

So fortunately I was born with this gift.
 
assclass said:
talk about privilege.

when I was broke I looked for a job that paid me money, couldn't be picky about hating the job or not.
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the worst job i had actively tried to prevent me from having any sort of life outside of the job. i had nightmares about work (before getting up to go to work) at least once a week.

my life was absolute hell. now it's just relative hell.
 
assclass said:
talk about privilege.

when I was broke I looked for a job that paid me money, couldn't be picky about hating the job or not.
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I'm definitely privileged, and I don't say otherwise. But why it is a problem that I want a job I don't hate? If someone would give me 1150 forint (so around 3 dollar, the average student-pay) per hour to clean out shit under dogs, I would happily do it.
I have enough shit to deal with because of the university, my health and my family already. I don't want to be the edge of crying every time I have to step in my workplace, or hate every co-worker of mine - I can swallow the frog If I have to, I just want I place I can at least stand. At the moment I tutoring some kids, and it is enough - and I would rather choose "enough" than have more money, but cry every time I have to go.
 
assclass said:
talk about privilege.

when I was broke I looked for a job that paid me money, couldn't be picky about hating the job or not.
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when I was broke, I had to hold down 4 jobs where *I* had to pay *them*, working 36 hours a day without food, sleep or a roof over my head - and that's despite having no arms, legs, eyes or body. kids these days - they have no clue!

 
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My da died of cancer. Why should we give government money for cancer research? I know it's a problem, but my family had to pay the price. The damn kids nowadays should have to pay too. I did.
 
brokedownpalace10 said:
My da died of cancer. Why should we give government money for cancer research?
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I have a reason. The cancer that killed Brian Piccolo back in the 70's was terminal then. In 2023 we have about 80-90% (close enough stats) of people that have or had that same cancer and have a much better prognosis.

But I see what you are saying brokedown.
 
F99icZ6XUAAGBvJ


From here but its paywalled

www.nytimes.com

Opinion | America’s Student Loans Were Never Going to Be Repaid

During the pandemic, the U.S. paused regular payments for student loans. But repayment was dwindling for at least a decade before that.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
In the U.S., Ronald Reagan is the reason for all of it. It started with him.

Here in Canada, the system is still sane, at least for undergrad. The loan can be deferred until you reach a certain income. Even then, you can request partial repayment, or even payment assistance. The government has not yet adjusted all this according to the cost of living crisis. On paper, someone making 50K a year is doing well, but in reality if they live in a big city now they are barely getting by. However, at least you can declare bankruptcy on a loan in Canada. Not being able to do that in the U.S. is loco.

The universities are corporations. They continue to build massive land developments and complexes on their campuses, getting more and more intricate. Some schools now look more like amusement parks than schools. This drives up tuition. They are for-profit institutions at the end of the day. Here in Vancouver, UBC is also a real estate developer! They have mid-level condos around campus now on their land endowment, and they charge a mint for them. It seems that schools are no longer just about school.

I frankly don't know how people do in-person studies for their ungrad anymore. It leaves you no time for employment. I did my first degree in person and I had financial backing, so I was lucky... but on the other hand, I still could've got ahead more had I got a job. School was paid for, so everything else would've been a bonus. My second degree was done all at home (except the labs), which was way, way better. Didn't need a car or a transit pass, didn't need to waste huge amounts of time going to campus and back, and didn't have to relocate closer to school. I made money part time online. If you're doing an arts degree, there is no real reason to go to campus anymore. It's just reading and writing. Anything else that is applied, like the sciences, require you to attend labs, but the non-lab lectures could all be online. Or they could be separate semesters completely. For example, you could do all your first year science theory courses online, and then spend the next semester doing all of your labs in person.

Neoliberalism has sucked the life blood out of everything, including education. If I had my time back, in my first undergrad I would have done community college for the general degree requirements, which takes about 1.5-2 years of the degree anyway. Then I would've transferred to my preferred school and did the rest of my degree. So much money and time was wasted.

The student loan trap is preposterous. People say, "That's what you get for getting a worthless degree." But the thing is, besides white collar professions, university was not meant to be about getting a job. It was about intellectual excellence. All of society would be better if more people had degrees, no matter what they are. If it were about jobs, people should be going into blue collar work instead... like the trades. The U.S. system is the most fucked, TBH. I can't believe you guys graduate from a standard undergrad with close to 100K debt. It's insane. Surely there are alternative schools that don't cost as much??

I don't get why degrees kept being pitched as the way to money. The trades are the way to money. Everyone I know in the trades right now is making over $100K per year in the first five years. Yeah it's grunt work, but it's the kind of money that degrees were supposed to get us but in reality didn't.
 
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Foreigner said:
The student loan trap is preposterous. People say, "That's what you get for getting a worthless degree." But the thing is, besides white collar professions, university was not meant to be about getting a job.
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Degrees were commodified and then they started getting pitched as investments. For years articles kept surfacing with the claim that having a degree meant earning $1m more over your career than someone without one.

Now it has almost turned into a negative. People with masters are even told to leave it off their resume because hiring managers see it as a red flag.

I did the first part of what you said (start at polytechnic, transfer to university) and i'm still not sure if it's worth finishing the second part because at this point I don't see it making a meaningful difference in my career.
 
Foreigner said:
Why do they see it as a negative?
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probably because it's specialized knowledge with narrow scope of usefulness, signals possible deficit of other skills (that comes from staying in school for longer and putting off joining workforce)...

there are a lot of possible negatives and not many possible positives, hence red flag.
 
Salem_is_tired said:
I'm definitely privileged, and I don't say otherwise. But why it is a problem that I want a job I don't hate? If someone would give me 1150 forint (so around 3 dollar, the average student-pay) per hour to clean out shit under dogs, I would happily do it.
I have enough shit to deal with because of the university, my health and my family already. I don't want to be the edge of crying every time I have to step in my workplace, or hate every co-worker of mine - I can swallow the frog If I have to, I just want I place I can at least stand. At the moment I tutoring some kids, and it is enough - and I would rather choose "enough" than have more money, but cry every time I have to go.
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Because you are trying to run before you can walk....

If broke then find any job

If have job but hate it, find better job

If have job but dont love it, find better job

If like job but want more money, find better job. etc

The goal is to go from unemployed to employed as fast as possible, and then continue leveling up your job.



The problem is that if you are BROKE, you NEED MONEY. Thus narrowing your opportunity, rather than expanding it. So it will take longer to find a job that you love and pays a lot of money (probably in part because demand, who doesn't want a fun, exciting job that pays great, and conversely no one wants the shit job for shit pay). The other thing is that if you go get a a shit job and continue looking for a job you love, you can tell your dream prospective employer, "I was broke, I needed a job and started working X, and I am not a fan, but show up every day and do a good job and then study/practice and search for this job on my spare time", your prospective employer will look at you more favourable than some bum who wont work until they find their dream job at a great salary.
 
CFC said:
when I was broke, I had to hold down 4 jobs where *I* had to pay *them*, working 36 hours a day without food, sleep or a roof over my head - and that's despite having no arms, legs, eyes or body. kids these days - they have no clue!

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if you are being rude, FU

if not, see my reply above, that clarifies the advice I gave. It's not old man back in my day BS, it's just anti whatever the fuck modern wet noodle strength culture is these days.

step by step.
 
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assclass said:
talk about privilege.

when I was broke I looked for a job that paid me money, couldn't be picky about hating the job or not.
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I think that you're the best, Sir Assclass, but I think that you're being unfair.

In my judgement there is little benefit to spending time on the bottom of society. Working one's way up is a poor stratagy.
 
I saw the Masters Degree issue start years ago. At one point everyone and their brother got a Masters Degree. Employers looked at it like now we have to pay this person more and yet has no experience? (I did a lot of interviewing people in my day trying to find help for our group) So there was for sure a negative view towards Masters Degrees after such a surge of the fad. I think it happened right after 2008. Same thing with all that greenbelt crap. lol Now it is like big woopy deal who cares.

I can say after watching my company over the years, experience and the ability to stay at a job is worth more than a Masters Degree. Too many younger people don't stick it out at companies for a length of time. If they do it looks better. I have seen my company cut to the chase and hire people over 60 if they had experience and the ability to work. Some younger people are more restless and tend to go for the money and don't want to work. But we also have a slew of younger people paying their dues just like the good old days and become successful. Showing up is 99% of success. Believe it or not a lot of people can't do that.

Use to be a University degree was worth something. Over the years the college curriculums cut class time, gave more time off and charged 50 times what it would have costed in say 1983. A total trap to me. And not as worth much as it use to be. Parents saved for their kids college days when i was younger. Do people still do that?

Show up for an interview, be present, show you are intelligent regardless of the work you will get. I always would take a person that showed intelligence and ignored big fluffy resumes of people that were total drips. Intelligent people can learn anything. That should be the attitude.
 
master degrees are fucking useless, they are not hard to do. What is hard to do is a acutal fucking job. College teaches no life skills or actual work experince. Once u leave college and go into the real world u slapped in the face big time
 
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