Poverty Wages and a Master's Degree

At 23 years old, I have a lot to learn. But this summer I’ve learned some life lessons well beyond my age.

When I finished my undergraduate degree last May from a small liberal arts college, I didn’t feel prepared enough to enter into the field of journalism. I decided to further my education through a Master’s of Journalism program at a Big Ten University. I thought an M.A. would give me an advantage and perhaps earn me more money. I decided to tackle this degree in one year for a couple reasons- I was slightly burnt out from going to school for the past 19 years consecutively and my student loans were really beginning to pile up.

At the time my one year decision seemed wise, but when I finished the program in June, I realized what horrible timing I had. I began my job search when the unemployment rate was around 9.5% and I was entering into a supposedly dying industry.

I continued to work at my minimum wage retail job (which is a whole other story of how I survived and went to school on minimum wage) and began putting out resumes. After the frustration of online job searching set in, I took a roadtrip to Columbus, Cleveland, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte, N.C. I physically handed in my resume and clips to any magazine, newspaper and television station that I could find. I even handed my packets in to companies that had PR departments or for any administrative assistant openings. Even if the company wasn’t hiring-they got my resume. I stopped counting after 124.

On my way back from my job hunt, I stopped at my parent’s house in West Salem. As tears of anger and frustration ran down my face, my parents attempted words of encouragement. My mom read me an e-mail about a friend’s daughter who started work with AmeriCorps, essentially like the PeaceCorps, but volunteers work to help strengthen communities in the U.S.

I looked into the program and applied for a couple positions. That was on a Monday evening. By Wednesday at 5 p.m. I had a position. Although, I will be living off of wages just above poverty level, part of the experience of bringing families out of poverty is to experience it yourself; I have health insurance and an education bonus at the end of my one year commitment. So much for my M.A. making me more money. However, I will be in a media position using my skills and better yet, I’ll be helping people.

As I explained the program to some fellow graduate students, they decided to look into AmeriCorps as well. They are struggling to find jobs just like I was, and I knew exactly how they felt. Throughout my search, I became very angry that I’d worked so hard for my degrees only to be greeted with closed doors. I became worried that my entire generation was feeling the same way. We were all told to go to college in order to get a good job, but unemployment is affecting everyone- old, young, college educated or not. We’re all struggling. But here my generation will be- educated, angry and jobless.

However, I’m beginning to have a little bit of hope. I hope that through the frustration and desperation, people my age will be willing to take jobs that may not pay well, but they make a difference. I hope that my generation is learning that money is not everything, and that money can disappear when things we have no control over go awry. I hope my generation begins to try jobs that do some good. I hope my generation can stop focusing on itself to look around and see how other people are doing. I hope we can lend a hand. I hope that my commitment to AmeriCorps can help families that are going through these same hard times. And I really hope I continue to learn and that I’ll continue to survive on poverty wages and a Master’s degree.