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Sorry, Kid...You're Starting at the Bottom

Sorry, Kid...You're Starting at the Bottom
7/10/2013
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Carly Gerber

I was raised in a neighborhood with a top-notch school system filled with inspiring and caring teachers. I loved hearing their stories about working in inner-city schools and how drastically different their teaching experiences were there compared to teaching in a predominately upper-class suburb. My naïve mind thought that my teachers chose to work in the inner-city schools but that was far from the truth.

At the beginning of their careers, many of my teachers could only find jobs in neighborhoods with poor school systems. They described the struggles of teaching in such areas but believed it made their character stronger because they were able to help students who needed it most. Fast forward to the present, where some of my friends are pursuing careers in education: Many of them are complaining that they can’t find teaching jobs in “safe” middle- or upper-class areas, echoing the same struggles many of my high school teachers encountered.

Does this say anything about my generation? According to a recent Time article entitled "Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation," individuals in my generation is known to be narcissistic and refuse to take crap from the older generation. Since we’re known to take jobs that “feel right,” we disregard opportunities that don’t measure up to our standards; as a result, we suggest to others that employment rates are low because we can’t get jobs that people who worked in the field for 10 years have acquired.

Though the Me Generation isn’t all bad (I highly suggest reading the article to find out our positive characteristics), I think it’s time my generation had a reality check. My peers need to understand that we won’t get our ideal jobs when starting out but if we put in the proper time and effort, we will climb the ladder of success just as every generation before us had done. What do you think?

Carly Gerber is majoring in journalism at Columbia College Chicago. She loves fashion and hopes to cover the topic for a Chicago-area magazine. In her free time, she focuses on her blog, loves making jewelry and spending time on Pinterest and Pose. She hopes to use this blog to guide and relate to its followers: college students like herself!

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