Undergraduate > Graduate Loans

sk8rmom
Sun, 18 Jul 2010 23:47:36 +0000

That’s true and it’s hard to imagine what it will take for our kids to educate their kids! In the early 80’s, I started as a GS-5 with the DoD and got RIF’d right before I would have been elevated to a GS-7 (and I had major plans for that $2K increase). All sorts of things were tried by the higher-ups to get me back for two years as this was the same agency I’d interned with for so long but it just wasn’t possible (well, maybe if I’d been willing to move to Alaska!). I missed the project and the people but quickly moved into manufacturing only to get promoted and then laid off again within two years, and then once again during a corporate buyout. Finally worked two “lesser” jobs and started my own business just to feel like I had a little control over my own destiny! In fact, to this day, I try to always have a second, and sometimes third, job even if it doesn’t pay very much…I just hate the thought of being unemployed! I think my experience is pretty comparable to what many grads faced then and still do today with shifting careers and industries. While it teaches you to be frugal and to plan for the worst, I truly can’t imagine how I would have survived with a lot of debt and I’m pretty sure it would have had a serious effect on my ability to provide for my children.