The document discusses concerns about the high cost of college, the lack of clear career direction when choosing a major, and employers' preference for candidates with specific skills and experience through unpaid internships. This leaves recent graduates feeling that a college degree is not enough and that they lack opportunities to gain experience. The document suggests college may not be the best path for all and that trade schools could be a better option for some. It also questions whether society places too much emphasis on college and if employers should do more to help graduates gain experience.

1. SAY
• College education is too expensive
• By the time I chose my major, I still was not sure what I
wanted to do
• My major was broad
• Employers were looking for experience
• Employers look for specific skills
• I could not afford to work unpaid internships
• Internships feel more like slave labor than gaining real-world
experience
• It’s all about who you know
• College graduates are a dime a dozen
• Seems like you need a Masters now, and a BA is like a
high school degree
• College graduates think they know everything, yet
they have no experience
• I look at there experience and results more than the
college they went to
• College makes more sense for doctors and lawyers. I
would have been better off at a trade school.
• Seems like there are too many people without jobs
Monday, August 5, 13

2. DO
• (I did not witness any doings)
Monday, August 5, 13

3. THINK
• College tuition is too expensive.
• The price of tuition can have a profound affect on someone’s future education/career path compared to their own abilities, desires and interests.
• This cost for college, and the “normal way” to do things - can force someone into a career path that they might not enjoy. But they continue on the
path because society tells them it’s the right thing to do.
• Employers can put students in a “Catch-22”.The employer requires experience - but the student can’t have experience if they cannot get hired.
• Employers and education institutions should find a way to create more internships that have some type of reward or payment. It’s hard for students or
graduates to work for free in order to gain that “experience.”
• Does society put too much emphasis on college degrees? Does everyone need one? Is it always the right thing to do? Does it really benefit everyone?
• The current economy and job situation affects the path from education to employment
• Should employers be expected to have a great responsibility on hiring new graduates, or providing more paid internships?
• Not being able to find a good job can diminish someone’s perceived value on their education and make them question their career path.
Monday, August 5, 13

4. FEEL
• I feel sorry for graduates who cannot find what they perceive to be an adequate job. I
am sure it is hard, devaluing, and discouraging.
• I feel that more employers should take on a greater responsibility to help recent
graduates or adults in school
• Having graduated around the beginning of the recession - I wonder what the path
from education to job was like before the Great Recession.
•
Monday, August 5, 13

5. PROBLEM STATEMENT
Abled, maturing adults who have the drive and determination to create a promising
future for themselves need to find a better way to realize their career path and
transition from educational institutions to employment because the present status
system is gridlocked: employers have trouble finding skilled workers with specific
experience, and job seekers have trouble getting hired because of their lack of
experience, or their chosen educational path; leaving them disenchanted and
discouraged.
Monday, August 5, 13