One year ago, I wanted to learn PhotoShop. So I went to the local camera store and asked the clerk which of their books he’d recommend. He referred me to a woman who supposedly knew PhotoShop in depth. Instead of buying a book, I hired her as a consultant and yes, she was good. Sandra D. helped me a lot, and I learned she had recently graduated from the University of California with a degree in Fine Arts. But the world wasn’t waiting for her. She was unclear on what she wanted to do. So she’s selling cameras at retail. She and her fiance don’t think they can marry for at least several years when, hopefully, their student loans are paid down a little more.
Okay, in the same month I had a New York trip where I made several stops, so I hired a chauffer and a limo. During the day we got to know a bit about each other. This driver, Larry F., had a degree from Farleigh Dickinson in Sociology, earned seven years before, and was hoping to get his student loans paid off in the next decade. Meanwhile, he lived with his parents, drove a limo during the day and worked some evenings in his parents’ restaurant.
Weeks later, it seemed switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs might be a sensible thing to do. I traipsed down to a nearby lightbulb store, and got a couple dozen. The sales clerk, Angela S., was helpful. We talked. It turned out that she’d gotten her degree a year ago from Appalachia State in Advertising. Now she’s selling lightbulbs in San Diego. I don’t have any idea how many advertising jobs there are in Appalachia, but have some suspicions.
Those random examples are three reasons why college seniors and college juniors should take the WAYA profiler. It’s designed to force some thinking about careers, and which areas fit an upperclassmen’s set of skills. Too many kids are drifting through college, accruing nothing tangible except debts. That’s criminal. Lives are wasted.
