• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Overeducated and Underemployed: An American Millennial Graduate

by Christina Larmon - February 27, 2014

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Overeducated and underemployed locke

When I graduated the University of Maryland in 2009, I believed the world was my oyster. Armed with a bachelor degree in Political Science from a top 20 university, I had fulfilled my end of the bargain. I had obtained the coveted college education that teachers, parents, and mainstream media had ensured were the key to a bright future that did not involve the phrase, “Would you like fries with that?”  With degree in hand and a strong theoretical background in the law, I forged ahead on the search for employment, unencumbered by doubts propelled by the recent recession.  While unemployment statistics of laid off Americans began to dominate the news cycle, I felt secure in the strength of my degree to help me obtain a high paying job; a job that would at least pay for the $100,000 debt that had been the cost of my education. I scoured job sites for positions in the legal field applying to job after job. I attended career fairs, sent out dozens of emails a day for job applications only to be met with the same response. The company was looking for someone with more experience.

While in my undergraduate studies, I forgoed seeking employment in order to focus on my studies, believing a higher grade point average to be critical factor in capturing a lucrative career. Wrong! Like so many of my contemporaries, I was caught in a vicious cycle. I needed the experience to get the position, but could not gain said experience unless someone gave me a job.  So I did as many do when needing to acquire work experience in order to build their resume. I began working as a temp. My critical understanding of Locke and Smith’s laissez faire economics had indeed equipped me with the skillset to work; as a receptionist, earning 12 dollars a hour. As I moved from assignment to assignment, the six month grace period began to come to a close. Soon, I would have to start repaying my student loan, a Goliath’s task the seemed nearly impossible given the girth of my debt and the meagerness of my pay.

The only option that seemed to provide a way out of my dilemma was to return to the institution of higher learning. In order to be competitive in this tough economy, I decided that I would meet my competitor’s experience with increased education, in the form of a master’s degree. Not only would a master’s degree fulfill this purpose, but it could provide me with a temporary reprieve from the stalking of my debt collectors, in the form of a deferment. It seemed I was not alone in this thinking as my Facebook newsfeed became filled with announcements of classmates going back to school for various masters programs.

While graduate school seemed to be the answers my prayers, I no longer had the rose-colored goggles when it came to the returns of higher education. I was determined to gain as much practical experience while investing as a little financially as possible.  I searched for schools in state and contemplated on where my passion truly lied. While in college, I found the classes that truly inspired me were on international development. I would leave my third world politics class and Development in the Asia-Pacific fueled with a passion for international justice. When I came across a Global Development and Peace program in my home state that seemed custom fit for my interests, I knew I was home.

I applied for the program and was accepted.  Once I entered the program I fell into old habits, opting to defer my employment search in order to focus on school. Once I began grad school, I flourished obtaining a 4.0 my first semester. During my second semester, I felt comfortable enough in the program to start temping again. I found a three month assignment for a processing position at a government agency.  The starting pay was $20 and hour, and the position required only a high school diploma.

The pay was the highest I had received and I excelled at the route data entry easily. At the end of my assignment, I was invited to stay permanently. I had finally found full time employment.  While I accepted the offer I was sure that this position would be yet another pit-stop on the way to my real career in foreign policy working for the UN.  I used the money from the job to pay for school, gain financial independence, and move out of my parent’s home.

Three years later, with the successful completion of a master’s degree in international relations, an internship volunteering abroad for an NGO, and a published thesis, I find myself not far from where I began. I still work at the government agency earning the same pay, applying to fellowships and UN entry positions, all while negotiating with student loan debt collectors. Like many millennials, the pursuit of the American dream has left me overeducated and underemployed.

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Education

About Christina Larmon

Christina Larmon writes for Democracy Chronicles from Stamford, Connecticut. Checkout the rest of our international team of authors as well. Together, they help cover free and fair elections on every continent with a focus on election reform in the United States.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | Overeducated and Underemployed: An American Millennial Graduate

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

The Christian Evangelical Church

By Jack Jones January 22, 2023

I am not against Big Business having a voice, just not all the voices, and especially not an impersonator pretending to speak for God.

No One In Monterey County Is Good Enough To Serve In Legislature

By Joe Mathews January 9, 2023

California’s “democratic reforms” have left a place as… [key] as Monterey County without any state representation from one of its own.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

In America, the Joe-mocracy Rules

By Joe Mathews December 27, 2022

A republic? A democracy? No, our country is an avuncular autocracy run by old guys named joe.

Property Rights, Indiana-Style

By Andrew Straw December 24, 2022

Indiana’s justices have replaced constitutional property rights with ad hominem politics. Replacing them starts with better governors.

To The American Oligarchs: Lay Off Us

By Jack Jones December 21, 2022

No matter how many jobs are ruthlessly pulled out from under us, we are still going to do what it takes to put food on the table.

Indiana’s Irrational Ballot Access System

By Andrew Straw December 4, 2022

Opposing the potential 2024 retention of the Chief Justice Loretta Rush will be key to preventing disability discrimination bad blood in Indiana courts.

Federal Judge Strikes Down Biden’s Loan Forgiveness program

By Jack Jones November 24, 2022

What is unlawful is the Texas federal judge’s decision to strike down President Biden’s loan forgiveness program, not the program itself.

DeSantis Battles Trump in Florida Steel Cage Match

By Steve Schneider November 20, 2022

We take you now to the much-anticipated DeSantis-Trump steel cage match, in which “DeSanctimonious” has promised to “kick Trump’s ass.”

Why Gambling Can’t Really Lose In California

By Joe Mathews November 2, 2022

When state voters approved an expansion of casino gaming, gaming interests assured us that gambling here would be governed by strict limits.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

Girl Scouts Earn Democracy Badge At Workshop In Salina

January 26, 2023

The workshop assisted Girl Scouts in grades K–10 in earning their Democracy Badge through learning activities on democracy.

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

Study: Media Can Reduce Polarization By Telling Personal Stories

January 26, 2023

Sharing personal experiences and pairing them with facts reduces political dehumanization and increases political tolerance.

Study: 2020 Election Resulted In Increased Anxiety And Depression

Study: 2020 Election Resulted In Increased Anxiety And Depression

January 7, 2023

A review of 2020 Household Pulse Survey data reveals that as an election nears, people in [America] report more depression and anxiety.

Key Iran Labor Sectors Launch Major Strikes

Charlie Hebdo Caricatures Iran’s Mullahs

January 7, 2023

The satirical weekly is publishing a special issue on Wednesday, January 4, mocking Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in support of the protests…

First Impressions Are Strongly Influenced By Political Partisanship

First Impressions Are Strongly Influenced By Political Partisanship

December 22, 2022

How we perceive strangers or the impressions we have about them, particularly their faces, is influenced by political partisanship.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy