My Life with a College Degree

I graduated from a 4-year University with a BA in English, a concentration in Writing, and a minor in Management Information Systems. My intention was to become a technical Writer, and utilize both pieces of the degree, with the eventual goal of becoming a teacher of high school English.

My first two years out of college, I applied for any job in Maine that seemed to fit that description. I paid to join a job agency, I applied everywhere I could think of. I didn't receive a phone call, an e-mail, or any information at all on an interview. Anything involving technical writing seemed to require years of experience, or be out of the state (Philadelphia and New York City), or was an unpaid internship. After several months I finally started working as a telemarketer.

Telemarketing didn't work out for me - I was good at it, and it was computer-based, so I did well, but dishonest pressure-selling was not something I felt I could do long-term, so 90 days after getting hired, I quit. I was without work for several more months, applying the same as before, to no avail. I ended up working part time in a grocery store for minimum wage. I got a second part-time job as a box-packer, which, needless to say, did not require a degree, for the holiday season to pay my car payments.

Once the holiday job was over, I could no longer make my car payments, and I lost my car. I was living at my mother's house, and no longer had a way to get to work unless she or a friend who lived close by could bring me. All the while, I was applying for jobs in which I would use my degree, even though I knew I couldn't get to them easily. No interviews.

Finally, I saved enough to get a car - 6 months later. It promptly died, and I was out the money, even if it was a cheap car. I got another cheap car, since it was all I could afford, and it wouldn't pass Safety Inspection for Maine, so there was another $450. In Maine, there really is no way to gt around unless you live right in town, unless you have a vehicle.

This brings us to March of 2009. Frustrated by everything, I decide to move to a city where I've been offered a room in an apartment that I can afford, thinking that I would be able to find a decent job if I'm living in a city so that I can use this degree that I have paid and worked for. I got a part-time job at a grocery store again, this time thinking it would tide me over - but it became my only job. I applied, and never heard back. When I called back, the answer was always the same - I had no work experience, so there were always better candidates for the jobs.

Exactly a year later, I am still at that store, and recently picked up a second job as a server at a chain restaurant, just to make ends meet. Still without a vehicle, it's a struggle to pay rent most months. I have a BA that's 4 years old now, and I haven't been able to use it since.

That's what I've done with my college degree.