Up at 6 am Monday go to work, occasionally go to a fitness class, come home usually by 7:30 pm, eat dinner, go to bed, and repeat until Saturday morning where I get to sleep in until at least 7:30 am. Since I can barely get anything done during the week due to the work and sleep routine, my weekends are usually packed with to-do list items such as laundry, house cleaning, yard work, appointments, shopping, you name it. I also work a side job where I spend hours of free time writing legal articles on my tiny home laptop to submit to my editor for editing, ha, and publication online. Saturday night it typically a night out with friends to actually relax.
I currently get 10 days off from the workweek a year excluding New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (unless a holiday falls on a weekend). Those 10 days are my personal days, sick days, bereavement days, and vacation days all packed into 10. Do I enjoy my job? Yes. But, I am not a workaholic. Would I have taken a different route if I would have known then what I know now? You bet.
I went to college for seven years to have the ability to do what I get paid to do Monday through Friday. You would think I would have a lot to show for all of my work effort but I don’t because I took out student loans that I cannot afford to pay back right now. Thank you to the Bush administration for Income-Based Repayment which caps my student loan payments at only 15% of my income. The reality is my loans will never be repaid on my 25 year plan but I can still drive my 2009 Jetta and pay a small mortgage.
When I took out student loans for Michigan State University and for a private law school, I thought I would start out making a six figure salary. Wrong. Don’t lawyers make a lot of money? Most don’t. I’m not stupid, I graduated at the top of my law school class and did many internships and part time jobs gaining a lot of experience but the fact is there are too many lawyers.
Like I told Governor Snyder, kids should not be told they can become whatever they want to when they grow up… unless mommy and daddy are paying the bill and can get you a job – then, yes go for your dreams! No, kids should be well informed and choose a career that is actually in demand and is hiring in the area they want to live. Check to see what jobs are posted on indeed.com right now, and then pick your major. Talk to recent grads who are working in your desired field and see what kind of hours they work and how much they are paid. I am sure Governor Snyder will write me back some day... it’s only been 3 years.
Doctors will take out massive student loans but will inevitably be loaded and the loans will be paid off. RN only requires a bachelor’s degree and although the degree is super competitive, the demand for RN’s is high and you only work 3 days a week, score! If you don’t want to work very much, I would say become a teacher but this is also a career where the market is flooded and teaching jobs are very difficult to come by. Engineering seems to be smart – everyone I know that has this type of degree has been flown across the country for multiple interviews so be prepared to relocate. Business – the go-to major – business is a great major to have because most all careers deal in business (I would recommend finance or supply chain as the hot areas right now).
Be smarter than me – just be a stay at home mom, just kidding! (not really). I’m sure that future generations will look back at my generation as the generation that really screwed up when it came to taking out student loans but the fact is we didn’t think anything of it. It’s very difficult to figure out what type of job you want to have when you “grow up” especially when working doesn’t seem all that fun. Hell, I often think I’d like to work at Bath and Body Works. My lesson to the new freshman in college is first think about the type of life you want, then think about your dream job, because over time you may realize the life you live outside of work is your dream and a job is just a job.
