Michelle, who is a twenty-three (23) year old 2L at Northwestern with a summer associateship lined up (as almost all law students have), was saddened to read an article about her generation in Crain's, which she has "delivered to [her] apartment on a regular basis in order to stay up to date with business news in Chicago." Would hire!
I, like many of your profiled young millennials, have a discouraging amount of student loans that I will have to begin paying off upon graduation.The title of this article is literally "I'm a millennial, and I'm not screwed."
I knew going in to law school that I would be taking on this type of debt, and I did not allow that to discourage me. I did not give up to be a bartender or a nanny. I followed my dream. And I find it very disappointing that none of the millennials you chose to interview were able to offer an inspiring story of following one's dreams, like many of my classmates and friends have chosen to do.
Three cheers for student loan debt and the inspiring dream-chasing it enables! I'm so inspired by Michelle's unfinished story, I'm going to go out right now and sign myself up for an LLM or maybe even a PhD in legal studies philosophy or something. The good news is that I've got hundreds of schools to choose from and a friend in Uncle Sam who's more than willing to hook me up with the good stuff.
My dream, after all, is to chase the educational dragon. If you ever see me on skid row, don't shed tears of pity. I'm actually experiencing the economic reality of the lower-class individual to better understand the personal consequences of our deleterious socioeconomic policies, an elaborate form of performance art/graduate school research. Go ahead, ask me about John Rawls. I dare you.
"I did not give up to be a bartender or a nanny. I followed my dream."
ReplyDeleteAs we all know, the only career choices in life are bartender, nanny, and lawyer.
"with a summer associateship lined up (as almost all law students have)"
ReplyDeleteLOL
Michelle is a prime example of a young lemming not reading the scam blogs. So proud of herself -going to the 12th best law school in the United States - can you imagine how accomplished she must be to have gotten into a law school as prestigious as Northwestern?
ReplyDeleteMichelle is sooo accomplished - can you imagine the prestige and financial security that a 10 week summer internship at one of the top law firms in the United States will bring her? When she is 50, everyone she knows will swoon about that summer job, and she will still be taking it to the bank.
She does not get -oversupply, oversupply in the legal profession - more than half a million redundant licensed lawyers in the U.S. She does not get the scam of short-term big law jobs and no place to go afterwards - maybe one follow on job, but that job is not going to last because there are hordes of lathamed big lawyers banging on the door for that follow on job every day she has it - if she gets that far. She does not get the scam that there are always going to be younger lawyers, and employers want to move lawyers out after a few years to make opportunities for younger lawyers. She does not get that the probability of having a real career in law (takes 35 years to qualify for full Social Security) is very, very low.
Michelle does not get the scam - that most people in her position have a very dubious chance of a career in law. She is playing the lottery, and she is oh so proud to be a gambler.
"The article, in fact, does a disservice to us millennials by painting us as a desperate, debt-ridden group of people who are willing to give up our dreams for the prospect of making $40,000 per year as a nanny for a wealthy family in the city. Although we are facing very difficult economic times in terms of the job market, I like to think that we millennials have the courage to face these trying times while also demanding the respect in the working world that we know we deserve."
ReplyDeleteLord, what a horrible person. Doesn't she know that the US median household income is about $52,000? A lot of people would think that a salary of $40,000 is a good deal of money but it seems like she considers those people to be losers. Her LinkedIn page says that she has done some volunteer work, but I guess it didn't take.
I wonder exactly what respect she thinks she deserves in the "working world" having spent little time there.
What drives me nuts about these statements is this notion of "working hard" and "having courage" and "demanding respect." When Millennials say this, there is the silent implication that NO ONE ELSE, EVER, "worked hard," "had courage" or "demanded respect." People have done these things forever, and yet it didn't always work out for them.
DeleteI'm actually on the side of the Millennials, if for no other reason that I'm a Gen-Xer and I certianly get the situation. Failure to see the forest for the trees is an aspect of being young, but its also an aspect of being arrogant. The Millennials need to watch out for the latter, as it will trip them up.
I have heard this phrase plenty: "Follow my dreams." But rarely is it expressed as "follow my plans" or even "follow my goals." I wonder if this word choice reflects a kind of admission from the unconscious mind that what is being pursued is extremely unrealistic.
ReplyDelete"Dream" noun, often attributive \ˈdrēm\ . . .: an idea or vision that is created in your imagination and that is not real.
Synonyms
chimera, conceit, daydream, delusion, fantasy, fancy, figment, hallucination, illusion, nonentity, phantasm (also fantasm), pipe dream, unreality, vision
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dream
...and yet you find the need to crush them anyway.
DeleteI did not allow good news to encourage me. I did not give up to be an optimist or a positive thinker. I followed my dream-- which was to be a dream-crusher. This will one day be recognized as an inspiring story for the millennials.
DeleteOr does it explode?
Delete——Langston Hughes
Old Guy