So Saturday night I got to watch the Suze Orman show. The part that stuck with me the most was her interview with a 24 year old woman who had finished graduate school with a master's in library science (and predictably $110k in debt. Doesn't anybody go to state schools anymore?). After three months at her first job in her field (paying more than I make now) at $31,500 a year, she turned tail and went home, citing debt accumulated from moving and new-apartment costs, etc etc. Boo hoo. Suze scolded her for giving it only three months - because moving to a new place is hard, and nobody likes it much for the first year they are there, so three months isn't enough time to decide whether you like a place or not. The kicker is that this girl moved home and got part time service jobs and is making $1100 a month rent free. So she will save $1000 in rent and utilities by making $1400 less. I don't think she did the math here.
The girl was pretty whiny, all "you don't underSTAND meeee, waaah." (Well, it was close.) The stated goal of coming on the show was to get Suze to give her a direction and a plan for her life. Unfortunately, this girl didn't seem to like the fact that the plan was for her to get another job in her field and move out, basically going back to what she was doing before. You know why? Cause it's the only damn way to become an adult.
Another thing I think was a factor in this girl's decision was that she said she had always made friends quickly when she moved to a new place for college and grad school but she wasn't making any when she moved to the new place for her real job. That's pretty much the story I've heard from all of my friends. In college, you're introduced to hundreds of people who are your age, have lots of things in common with you, you probably have mutual friends with them, etc etc. I've also heard that dating outside of college is tough and I believe it - cause every person you meet in college is pre-screened in some way, by your friends, by what classes they signed up for, and just by getting into the same college as you. So it's not surprising that without all these structures, it's hard to get to know people. But that seems to be the principal reason that this girl gave up and went home - because it was hard, she was lonely, the place was unfamiliar, and her debt was stressful.
I was somewhat amused (and maybe this says something about me) that for a good portion of the interview the girl was looking down and away from the camera as she was scolded. Which makes me wonder if the girl was actually lying when she said that she watched the show all the time. Suze is generally very nice to people that have done their homework and aren't doing the stupid thing, but she can get very snippy with people who have done idiotic things. And I would classify leaving a perfectly good job in your extremely specialized field as an idiotic thing. But I guess that people don't like to acknowledge that what they have done is stupid, so they delude themselves into thinking that their problem is real and they did all the right things, so she'll be nice to them.
In other news, has anybody else noticed that Pop Tarts seem to be smaller than in our youth??
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
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9 comments:
The thing is though that she hadn't really made any mistakes before she left her job. She had gotten a job that she said she liked in her field and was making okay money for the position. It was only when she ran away from the responsibilities of the adult world that things got worse. It's hard to leave the cocoon of school, where there is always somebody to help you out, and do things on your own, but eventually you have to.
I completely agree with your post Kira. I watched it too and was thinking pretty much exactly what you were thinking, especially about it being harder to make friends once you're out of academics and in the real world. She gave up too easy and her mother helped her do it. My mom would've told me to stick it out longer before I made a big decision like that. She had so many other options other than packing up and moving home. She could've gotten a roommate or rented a cheaper place. Then maybe she wouldn't of had to work a second job and would've had more free time to meet people.
What I think a lot of people (or at least, younger people) don't understand is that sometimes, you're at work to work. Not to make friends. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's awesome to work where you have a lot of friends but that's not why you're in a job in your field. Not if you're fresh out of college or grad school, not if you're just starting your career and especially not if you sank yourself 6 figs into debt towards that career. You're there to do your time, find and make connections and opportunities for developing your career, and learn all that OTHER stuff you didn't learn in school. In other words, you're there to work. Not. Make. Friends. This is why it's called "entry-level."
I deeply miss the friendships I'd developed at my get-me-through-school job, but that is not a good enough justification to skip out on, y'know, growing up.
Unless you WANT to be that lifer in a dead-end job fifteen years later, sagely counseling the newbie that "you don't wanna end up like me!"
Sorry, that sounded rather harsh - I guess I'm just reminding myself too!
I watched it too. She seemed as if she is still mama's little girl. It would have been an awesome experience for her if she had stuck it out. The Virginia, Maryland, D.C. area is a great place to work. Glad to know I am not the only one watching Suze. She's on here on Saturday nights.
I didn't watch the show, but about state schools, in many cases they're only cheaper than private if you're going in-state.
Hi Kira,
I am Jeff, the eMail guy who appeared every week on The Suze Orman show" for 6 years have decided to start a Blog. I read your blog about getting started and it made me much less reluctant to start one...Thanks.
I can tell you that when the cameras were off Suze would always turn to me and say "they tell me they love the show and watch all the time, but dont they listen?". As you know Suze seems to repeat herself with many topics, but I guess some people need to be bombarded with the same info over and over!...And Suze is the one to do it!
JCTV59. JEFF,I realize this is an old post but only recently came across it.Hopefully you check back now & then for replies.We know each other from back in the day.I have no doubt you recongize the name.contact me@email address.Talk then. antoinette
JCTV59.JEFF, HERE IS THE EMAIL ADRESS LADYBUGG17@GMAIL.COM.Also have you begun a blog.
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