2. Profile
✤ 36-year-old white male
✤ U.S. Marine Corps veteran
✤ Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology
✤ Has transitioned into the workforce but has not had a full-time job or
steady income
✤ Has worked as an archaeologist for engineering firms on a project-by-
project basis for ten years.
✤ Interested in returning to school and starting the school-to-work
transition over again with more advanced degree.
3. Says...
✤ “I want an income I can count on that is consistent and sufficient”
✤ Why?
✤ Student loans, child support payments
✤ Day-to-day life costs (rent, utilities, groceries,etc.)
4. Does...
✤ Works constantly to pay on loans and child support (first priority). The
day-to-day costs are seen as a secondary.
✤ Researches advanced degree programs in his spare time. Exploring full-
time vs. part-time vs. online options.
5. Thinks...
✤ More education is a necessity that is too expensive for him.
✤ He doesn’t have the time to work his current job and go to school.
✤ He cannot marry his girlfriend without being seen as a successful man,
who can provide for her.
✤ He is not a good enough father to his children because he cannot afford
the costs to travel to see them (no car, insufficient credit card limit to rent
one).
6. Feels
✤ I am not successful
✤ I am not a good provider
✤ I am too old to be in this transition
7. Problem Statement
✤ The post-graduate who is lost in the transition needs a way to finance
advanced schooling and re-enter the workforce because current
societal pressures require a full-time, well-paid job to deem an
individual successful and, since the recession, these jobs require
advanced degrees to attain.
