So, you graduated college…now what?

From the get go of your student career every respectable adult always encourages their young students to go to college and get a degree, so you can obtain a “real” job. With nothing to lose you take out those huge school loans, study your little heart out, earn that degree and never get that good paying position. It seems the only jobs in the newspaper require experience, which many times you can’t learn from a college degree. Although internships are of GREAT help, not many of us poor college students can afford to work for little or nothing. These days, the only good paying, entry level jobs that students can acquire always appear to be within the health field. Although a very respectable position, not all of us are cut out for a medical career. The programs are usually very demanding, but the greatest aspect of a RN or LPN degree is the required clinicals offering excellent assisstance in learning.
I have a friend who is about to graducate from the nursing program at Northampton Community College after four years of having her head stuck in a nursing textbook. I’m sure that many are aware that from the start, these demanding nursing programs are anything but an easy learning experience. Now, in her last three months of clinical practices she’s finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel. She expressed to me the other day that she recently attended a job fair in which one employer was said to offer entry level registered nurses at $26 dollars an hour, fresh out of college. The best part, the last actual job she had was in highschool so she could focus all of her energy on her studies. Don’t get me wrong, the job is stressful and can sometimes be traumatic so they definetly deserve every penny of that $26 dollars an hour. What I don’t understand is why don’t occupations that are just as important, like for instance teachers, get offered the same amount? I guess it all depends on your location, but still, where would you be without all that education? Stuck in college, and trying to find a job…that’s where.