Mixed Feelings

As suggested by the title of this entry, I have mixed feelings. But, "what about?" you might ask. Hold on, baby birds, I'll feed you. I have mixed feelings on graduate school. Graduate school and its worth. Is all of its supposed "benefits" worth all of the effort and trouble that it brings? I have to say, that from where I'm sitting right now, that it does not. I have heard many people's opinions on this and it generally shakes down to three groups. First, that it is better to go directly into graduate school. I must admit that I was part of this group. The reasoning is that if beginning graduate school directly after undergraduate, you will still be in the school mindset and will have an easier time with less adjustment and you can enter the workforce afterwards with better prospects of finding a job with better pay.

The second school of thought is to find a job, and have them pay for your education. The argument for this path is that it will save you money on tuition and will allow you to start saving money since you will be earning a real paycheck. It also allows for a little bit of job security, as a company is unlikely to let you go after investing time and money into furthering your education. However, with the current economy, it is becoming very difficult to find companies willing to do this.

The third thinking is that graduate school is not really necessary and it is better to just get a bachelor's degree and then a job because employers would rather have someone with practical experience and a general understanding than someone with no experience and a deeper theoretical understanding. Besides, everything you don't know you can learn on the job, right?

But my experiences of recent time have pushed me towards a fourth, and completely different theory. And that is that no matter what you do, you still won't be good enough. Before you say, "Justin, don't you think that is a very cynical viewpoint?" Please, hear me out. I have two very intelligent, very hard-working friends. One working on her Master's degree, and the other working on her Ph.D. Needless to say, they are no slouches, and know what it means to work hard and dedicate themselves to their work. Both of them tell me that never before have they felt so stupid in their lives as when they are in these classes. They feel completely and utterly discouraged because they are working harder than they have ever worked before for very few, if any, positive results. And I have to agree with them. I am also finding that I am working very hard to do well and still find myself struggling to just keep my head above water. We all began our graduate studies right after finishing our undergraduate degrees and we are all completely miserable with our academic experience so far.

A friend of a friend is unhappy with his situation. He waited to start graduate school. He feels like it would have been better if he had started right away like I had. I told him that it probably wouldn't have made a huge difference. But who knows, it might have been different for him.

I have another friend who is not going for a graduate degree. She is finishing up her undergraduate degree this semester, and looking for jobs. In her experience she is finding that employers are looking for more actual on-the-job experience than just internships, of which she has done four and is now expected to do another. What kind of world do we have to look forward to after graduation if we cannot find an entry level job in our chosen fields? It seems like all the jobs require more experience than is possible for the recent graduate to have. Or they require a person to complete yet another unpaid internship while the shadow of student loan repayment creeps ever closer. And even if you do take the unpaid internship, it does not guarantee a paid position upon satisfactory completion. The positions available to a recent graduate are further made unobtainable by claims of not enough enough experience, or over-qualification.

It seems to me that employers are trying to draw out the amount of time that they can continue to get help at the lowest cost possible. Let me give a personal example. I was recently informed of a temporary part-time position as a laboratory assistant. The position required experience in the lab and experience with a particular lab instrument was preferable. I met all of the requirements, almost as though the position had been created specifically for me. I applied and went through the interview process, meeting with the HR director as well as the laboratory manager, with whom, if I received the position, would be reporting to. The entire process seemed to go favorably for me with both the lab manager and the HR director very excited about my experience. After my interview, a friend showed me a listing for an unpaid internship. It was from the very same company I had just interviewed with and the description was, word-for-word, the exact same position I had just interviewed for. The only difference is that I had applied for a paid position. This posting was for an unpaid position. Guess who didn't get the job. If you guessed me, then you are correct. A couple of weeks later I received a very nice and sincere form letter saying "While we were impressed with your qualifications, we have decided to pursue other options," blah blah blah. I don't know if anyone else is in this same position, but I can't compete with people who are willing to work for nothing more than school credits. Unless I have been informed incorrectly and grocery stores, credit card companies, and FAFSA DO accept school credit hours as valid forms of payment/repayment.

While thinking about my situation and the situations of those around me, it is very difficult to see how working hard for a piece of paper that will force employers to pay a little more, thus decreasing my chances of getting hired in a time when companies are trying to pay as little as possible, is worth it.

I still think it may be useful down the road, once companies realize that they get what they pay for, but that seems so far off, especially in Michigan, and I am increasingly wondering if it is worth continuing to put myself through all of this trouble for so little reward. I was always raised being told that an education is important and the harder you work, the more you will be rewarded. While I still want to believe this is the way the world works, I am quickly learning that regardless of how the world should work, it is very rare when it actually does. Let's just say that this graduate student, at least, is not looking forward to his "bright and shining future" after graduation.