Post Baccalaureate Bullshit

Written by: TROUBLsome

“It’s a Catch 22, You’re Damned if you Don’t, Damned If you Do”

–Goapele

There is often the same fill-in-the blank question that pops up:

Parent’s Highest Level of Education
a.) Some High School
b.) High School Graduate
c.) Some College
d.) College Graduate

I’m not sure if everyone here can relate, but I know my pops barely finished High School and moms had some college, actually it was a few nursing classes under her belt.

I often hear stories of them, reaching the age of 18 and having to get the fuck out. There were other kids in the house that needed to be raised. “Shit when you turn 18, you’re considered an adult” Go make something happen. College wasn’t always an option. In fact, it was pretty far-fetched.

My upbringing was a little different. College was not too far fetched, but it wasn’t close either. We had obstacles to overcome: gangs, peer pressure, drugs, teen pregnancies, financial burdens, and simply the lack of knowledge needed to apply to college, for financial aid, grants and all that shit. My shitty-ass public school and my parent’s upbringing left me little disadvantaged.

Still, I went to college. My parents seeing me graduate from high school was great. I guess they looked at it as if I surpassed their educational level. They were cool with me starting a full time job. Going to college was an added bonus. So here I am now, the first person in my family to not only go to college, but also graduate.

But what does it all mean? To me, it means jack shit—absolutely nothing. It means that I got a piece of paper, which says that I graduated from college.

Last generation, 10 percent of jobs were high paying. Ten percent of people went to college, and they got the high paying jobs. Today, the number of high paying jobs has stayed the same but the percentage of people who graduate from college has jumped up to 25 percent. So that leaves 15 percent of college graduates walking around with bachelors degrees, feeling as if they are entitled to high paying jobs and never get em’…“It’s a Catch 22, You’re Damned if you Don’t Damned If you Do”

Just like that, a bachelor’s degree has taken the place of the high school diploma and has simply become just a prerequisite to life. One day, we’ll be saying the same thing about master’s degree. Unless you are in a specific field in which young workers are in demand, “you aint shit”

What makes shit even more fucked up is that college doesn’t teach you why you do certain things in your career, and it only teach you how to do a specific task. Some students get out of college and don’t have a damn clue on what to do next. They purposely brainwash you to go school, take all your money, leave you in debt for the rest of your life, and then go on to fuck the next person. Sounds like a trifling bit** with a disease.

I’m not saying don’t go to school, but it’s obvious what’s occurring all over the country. Even if you get a degree, there is no schools that teach you how to go out and get a job.

“Read Books Fuck School”… Educate yourself, on the things that they won’t…

Tags: Culture, Education | Jan 30, 2008 |

9 Comments, Comment or Ping

Big Tone

Moms and Pops was married at 19, had me a 22, and divorced at 24. Neither one of them went to college. Moms has been working 9-5 ever since. Pops worked his way up from the docks to the boardroom. I never went to college, hell I never planed to. I had to work to help my Mom out since she gave up so much for me to get the things I wanted. With a little help a little luck and alot of hard work, I now run my own business make my own schedule and make enuff money so my wife could work part time and finish school. I agree educate yourself, and go get whatever it is you want. Hard work does pay off. Success never rewards the wrong person. Be easy people…Stay in TROUBL!

[Reply]
Keene

Damn… I really don’t know what to say to any of this. This has been a problem that I’ve been trying to find a solution to for the past 5-6 years since I’ve been out of school… as a non-graduate. I was kinda oblivious to the whole school aspect to be honest. I felt on top of the world being that I was a praised athlete! I can now admit that I’m a little older that I got caught up in the moment and didn’t see much pass the “hunnit” yard football field I used to play on. I came from a public school system that didn’t prep or inform it’s students on how they need to go about applying themselves to get into universities and institutions to be something later in life. I was never informed by teachers, couselors, or my single mother, who only has an AA degree under her belt, about getting the job done. I had a highschool football coach who always said I was a good player but because of my height, didn’t promote to me that I could take it to the next level. Shit, this mothafucka doubted a best friend of mine and bet him that he wouldn’t get into Grambling Univ. He said if he got into the school, he would pay for my friends books for the first semester!!! Big ups to my other African homie Black Dunes who also graduated from Grambling… but is a statistic of this Blog– Fuck. I too surpassed his predictions though, but without proper guidance I came back home with the same things I left with… nothing. I chose a school that didn’t offer me anything pertaining to my major which was Illustration. And on top of all that I was in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota, 6 hours away from the nearest “big” city which was Minneapolis. I was in an enviorment that I don’t think I adapted to so easy. By time I adapted to it and came out of the nose dive of depression I was in, it was about a few weeks before I was on a scheduled plane ride back home for good. After dealing with another chapter of depression, dealing with the questions of was I playing ball anymore, or when was I going back off to school, I was in a dimension of what it felt like I was floating and didnt have a foundation under my feet where I could walk in any direction. I felt as if I was worthless because I returned without a degree. Shit I couldn’t even obtain a PLAYER HATERS DEGREE! I’m a very skilled artist. Do people see this trait in me? Fuck No! They can’t see shit past my urban atire and sick ass SHWAG! All in all I never got the right resources I needed to HELP me be the “successful” person I know I can be. But now through experience and being a little older, once I get a little more established and create a base. I’m going to go back to school and get my PIECE OF PAPER!!! Maybe even the second one… Sorry it was so long ya’ll. I had to vent. This had been bottled up inside of me far too long.

[Reply]
TROUBLMan

I believe in a college education. Its where you go to interact with mature intellectuals. Its where you zoom in on a subject of expertise. Sadly, college has become about paying for your friends. It about who you meet that’s going to give you a job. It’s the elite schools where alumni and current students get and give the jobs. College is the ultimate example of class division in America. Lets make sure we keep talking about it.

[Reply]
Diana

You have to have critical thinkers in order to have a democracy. Unfortunately, the k-12 system doesn’t teach that because it’s to busy trying to get students in and out without realizing all the defencies. Then in college it’s the almost the same thing. You have to take all the general ed classes then declare a major to take some classes regarding your choice of interest. There are only a few things I can remember from my undergrad. In my experience, it has been graduate school that has really been allowing me and showing me to really be a critical thinker. I am now gaining all the skills I need to really be able to go out and make a difference with all the nneded facts in my back pocket. So, I wouldn’t discourage school. It does turn out to be a place of fascinating discussion among peers all interested in the same goal. However, it’s a long road to that point and we often lose a lot of students throughout the way becuase our system is lacking SO much..

[Reply]
Terry

Troublman is on point with his critique of the “paper” chase. Some of us have spent $100,000+ for a classroom based education. But the old saying holds true, experience is the best education. To all those who are headed down the path of university, do not mistake it for enlightenment. Colleges are businesses and they are damn successful at it because they know how to play their position. Just getting through will NOT lead to success because as we have been discussing, the value of a degree is steadily declining. That is not going to change anytime soon. As a matter of fact, its going to get a lot worse. We live in the globalized world these days and you best believe that kids are coming from other countries hungry for a little piece opportunity.

College is what you make it. It may not be epic, but it is YOUR education. Forget what your supposed to learn in a syllabus and take control of the experience. Exploit it. Get as much as you can while you can from professors, the schools resources, and whatever connections are available. Study abroad if you have the opportunity. All a degree will do besides make a pretty-looking framed receipt on your wall is allow you access to another tier of jobs and expand your options for careers. But right now, they may be all we need to shift our perspective.

There is no such thing as a “safe” job anymore. People are not expected, and in most cases are not allowed, to work at a company for 40 years and retire with a pension and gold watch. Flexibility and adaptability are the orders of the day. Get the paper you need to get your situation straight and go after your own goals. While individual teachers in your life may care about you, colleges do not worry about much besides prestige and that check. This is where most of them become factories pushing out young adults made from the cookie cutter and sprinkled with debt. While its not a great deal, its an investment which allows you access to the world at large in whatever you care about. Contrary to popular belief, nobody gets through on their own. Education is a lifetime event which involves the entire community and its relationship to the individual.

If you plan on sitting on your ass for four years and then getting paid and being satisfied, you better either call to your rich uncle or wake up. Keep reading, keep writing, and stay mad. Our Troubls have just begun. Get to work.

[Reply]
"a mom"

Keene
Loved your post. It really made me see you. Good to get your feelings out. That is how we heal ourselves. Remember Troubl is about community.
Education is good. college is a good place to reach for, but I’m finding as I get older that books are necessary. They are our life tool. Once we get into the real world it’s an hold nother story. Life is a lesson in itself.
Read,

[Reply]
TROUBLMan

We have to make people understand the system.We need to teach our kids the structure of business at a young age. Its designed to create workers. And most of these “workers” are disposable. we have to know this before college.

[Reply]
Q.

great topic..

i don’t even know where to start.. i’m guilty of going to one of those “farm system” universities, but i won’t front, it’s why i chose that school.. i knew when i came out, i’d have a job.. i knew that i would be 1 of a handful of Blacks that graduated, so my chances of getting a great job was pretty high..

i like what Terry said, though.. we have to go into college knowing what we want to get out of it.. otherwise it is just a piece of paper.. TROUBLman was right about it being a place where sons and daughters go to just pass the time, knowing that when they come out they have shoes to step into.. He’s also right about the system being “workers”.. as my boy likes to put it, it’s “wage earners” and “profit makers”.. it’s hourly vs. salary.. whatever bucket you want to put out there, it’s the people making the decisions and the people living out the work created from those decisions..

we need to get to a point where we teach more about business in school.. there is a school in the BX that has a bank in there.. i loved that.. students work for the bank, and the bank allows students to open up accounts with just $1 and their school ID.. it’s a start..

Real Education About Life.. to me, that’s what it boils down to.. keep it R.e.a.L..

[Reply]
Keene

It sems if the ”Real World” is a virus and standard college education is the antibiotic. The Virus just keeps getting immune to what is supposed to be the solution…

[Reply]

TROUBL

Post Baccalaureate Bullshit

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