Unprepared

 In the book, Share or Die, I chose to read the article “Unprepared” by Sarah Idzik. She tells her personal story of being underprepared from the start of high school to her professional days.  She explains how high school does not prepare us for college and also how college does not prepare individuals for the afterlife of graduation. Because of this, we are not ready for the future generation.  

Sarah explains in the beginning of her article that during high school she was a straight A student who was really smart. She was the student who teachers could count on. Sarah was from a small-town public school who she believes did not challenge her enough for college. She had to make a decision whether or not she should attend college near home in Pittsburgh, or accept a scholarship from the University of Chicago. She chose to set her goals high and moved to Chicago where she began to find school a huge struggle. Sarah made some friends and was able to become comfortable. She learned better techniques that made it easier to learn. I can relate to Sarah. I made A’s and B’s in a small-town high school. I had the same challenging transition that she experienced and I have learned thus far that high school did not prepare me for college.      

After the first semester or so, it is common for students to become more comfortable. Following the years of struggling to get a degree, students do not really get warned of the post-college life. In Sarah’s story, she explains her after graduation experience. She struggled for work in her desired major. She mentions in her article, “The word “job” was precious enough; the word “career” seemed outlandish, absurd, almost unseemly. We went from expecting greatness to expecting respectable work and then to hoping for something that paid” which is how the real world of occupations is defined today. Sarah found a job to get by and she was utterly miserable. She continued to keep this job for three years due to the terrifying thought of quitting and not being able to find another job. 

            Hearing experiences like this, makes us question is college worth it? Sarah had to get a job to start to pay back her loans from college. She got a job that had nothing to do with her degree, but was paying back the loans she went to college for to get that degree. The way the economy is, some believe that college is not worth it these days. In the article, When a Degree Isn’t Enough to Get a Job by Anthony Balderrama, he states “Still, with a number in the millions, you are competing with a lot of job seekers who also have the same educational background as you. Relying only on your bachelor's to land a job is not the safest route to employment” which means that there are many other recent graduates who are looking for the same job you are. It has become very challenging to find the ideal job you got a degree for. As you can see in Sarah’s story, she unfortunately did not get the career she hoped for after graduating.

            Sarah decided after three years to take a leap of faith and move to another city and start over. Her goal was to stop feeling like an unknown person to the world.  For those who decide to go to college and get a degree may take the risk in not having the “ideal” career they wish for right away. “We had no idea how to navigate this world, but our education didn’t fail us-it instilled in us dissatisfaction for this kind of life” which are valuable words from Sarah Idzik.  Even though some people are not prepared for this generation, we have to learn the hard way. Remember, Use all your education to your advantage and never give up on your goals.