So you went to college and did all the right things but now you’re at home with your parents feeling depressed and questioning your decision. Perhaps you’re not that bad and you have decided to go back to school or pick up a side gig. Well you are not alone in singing the same uncanny melodic harmonies of thousands in the same choir.

The Bad

Due to the economic slow down in the job market, over qualified candidates are stuck out in the cold with long unemployment lines and career fairs looking for jobs that are not even available. Some have even kept the same college job with limited upward mobility. When income is not coming in to support the forty thousand dollar degree it results in growing student loan debt and bad credit. Sallie Mae does not care about the recession (see more about Sallie Mae, www.socialtikmag.com) or your personal problems. She wants what’s hers and it’s the money.

I am often times hurt to see fellow grads bagging my groceries or scanning the barcode of my clothes. I am hurting because this is where there forty thousand dollar degree and the recession has landed them. I will be the first to say I applaud them for working instead of crying at home on the couch.  A job is a job and never should judgment be passed on someone less fortunate. Any changes in fate could easily have the tables reversed. However, it hurts to see them go through college and have nothing currently to show. I encourage you to hold on, because a change will surely come and your diligence to lay down your pride will pay off.

Maybe the government should have forgiven student load debt instead of forgiving all those banks. The college graduates actually did something right and are being punished by the same lending institutions that were bailed out. Shouldn’t one hand wash the other? That’s another article… But before it gets better, there is more…

The Ugly

Highly qualified people doing unchallenging jobs are losing the skills learned by their highest level of education. When an engineering student is working as a supermarket cashier, the five years of higher learning is slowly being wasted away. Common sense says “If you don’t practice what you learn you will loose it.”   Now wait, I am not saying that you are becoming a dummy, but any skill that is left unused has the potential of becoming obsolete. Think about walking, if you didn’t walk for a year, your body will have to teach itself to walk again. Astronauts are some of the smartest people in the world but after months in space they have to learn to walk again. Get the picture?

The Fix-  Mindset

Increasing debt, realization that a history major with no intentions of teaching was mistake, that liberal arts degree that is not as liberal when it comes to bills or that six figure dream is still a dream; each contributes to a person’s mindset and drive. But it is how you handle the next year or so of your life that will determine how this recession has affected you.

Remember we are the Generation that has seen it all. And it is how we respond that will shape the future generations. Your authority is solely based upon your drive to reject the status quo to demand your voice to be heard. In this case you can do it with out making a sound. Your actions are the sound!

While we are in this downturn, sharpen your skills, read and study your craft to become an expert in your field. Go out and work on that business plan that was part of your ten year goal. Get ahead of the curve. Be the first in line at every career fair or casting call. Be the first to submit your resume and be the first to take on new challenges. You as a college graduate have been through it all and this is the final. All you have to do is remain prepared to execute.

Never Underestimate your Authority!

Please comment and share your experiences and triumphs below!