#undergraduateadult – Linda Nelson

Today was the day – Graduation Day! A day that I never thought would come until two years ago when I started my academic journey at Franklin Pierce University in the Associates of Arts for Business program.

The weather was blah, but that didn’t matter, I dressed to meet the challenge of staying warm and dry while waiting for my turn to walk across that stage and receive my announcement of conferral. When I left home at 8 in the morning, the clouds had just started rolling in. The weather forecast was cold and light rain. Not the best combination for a graduation ceremony.

Some used umbrellas while other wore sandwich-bag style rain coverings only to throw them off just before joining the line to walk across the stage.

I wonder if the same saying for having a wedding on a rainy day brings good luck applies to graduations too?

Since my degree was for Associates, we were last. Shivering and waterlogged we couldn’t wait for our turn to walk the stage. Out of 16 graduating Associates, only four of us showed up for graduation.

My day was made even better by the sudden appearance of my daughter as my turn had come to walk across that stage. She brought her new boyfriend for me to meet along with the new grandbaby that I had not seen yet. My granddaughter will be 2 in four more months. Jasmine, my older granddaughter, did not make the trip because she is at that age where long trips bring conflict in small cars. They were joined by Mike, my mother, and my son.

Later I was told, that mom took a tumble out the door on their way to graduation. I will have to keep tabs on her condition because she is prone to blood clots. Her tumble means that it is time to repair the front step before it happens again. Sounds like a good Memorial Weekend project if it warms back up and doesn’t rain. It always rains Memorial Weekend.

I am looking forward to the coming year. The next graduation is scheduled for 2020 when I will have my bachelor in Accounting.

— Go Me!

Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers rarely think about their future until the world is thrust upon them after graduation or dropping out of school because they are convinced that they can survive without that diploma.

Stop Right There!

I hate to break the bubble, but someone has to do it. We no longer live in the 1950’s where cars can be fixed without being a certified mechanic, and most of the factory jobs that our grandparents had back then are all in China and Mexico. Unless you want to work at Micky D’s or Dunkin for the rest of your life, get your high school diploma.

Do you know that the questions on the GED test are not taught to most high school students, making the test harder to pass than getting that diploma from school?

But I Don’t Want a College Degree!

I know, you have no desire to go to college. You still need that diploma. There is an alternative to a complete academic education. Why don’t you pick a trade? High schools have been offering trade-school classes for years. By learning a trade and taking part in an apprenticeship, you unlock the door to a higher wage or even owning your own business.

Times Have Changed

Back in the 1980’s I never thought there would come a day when an employer wouldn’t want a long-term employee. Times have changed. The average employee in 2016, has been with their employer for no longer than five years. Between recessions, burst dot-com bubbles, and the housing crunch the job market has changed drastically. If you want to earn a living wage you need either a college degree or a trade skill certificate or license.

There is No One to Blame But You!

Don’t blame the illegal immigrants for taking all the jobs away from you. The top jobs they are applying for is farm labor and construction as indicated by the Pew Research Center, Five Facts about Illegal Immigrants. I don’t know too many American’s who will work for farm wages. Construction work, they would probably do, but if they took part in the trade school while in high school, they would be snagging a better paying job on the crew leaving the runner work for the immigrant.

Lay-offs Happen!

So what if your parents dropped out of school and were able to find jobs. That was then. If you parents haven’t been laid off in the past ten years, then they were one of the lucky ones. Invest in your future not because your parents told you to go to college. Do this for you and only you.

You Decide!

Only you can decide what you like, what you want, and where you will go after high school.