Does anyone else feel like they wasted 4-5 yrs. of college for nothing?

Question

I do. I got my degree in Spanish & nothing to show for it. I really didn't learn anything in college. It was VERY hard & boring. What does British history have to do with a Spanish major? Yeah, that's why I graduated with a sucky 2.285 GPA. & what does Medieval Spanish literature & Spanish prose of the Golden Ages have to do with my desire in a career as a Spanish translator/interpreter? That's OLD stuff that nobody speaks anymore. & one of my professors had nerve to tell me that she feels like she's not teaching me anything. @ the time, she wasn't. Now, I've graduated from college 8 months ago & STILL don't have a job. How am I expected to pay back my student loans? I can't afford to live off of SSI & Social Security for the rest of my life-$730/month. I had 1 job offer that offered me $14K/yr. as an ESL teacher's assistant, but I couldn't take the job b/c of domestic abuse. I know a high school dropout girl with no GED who makes that much, working @ a casino.

Answer 1

High school spanish teachers can make much more than $14,000 a year and they get the summer's off.

Here are a few job postings for Spanish teachers that I just read online.

"Beginning Salary $34,500; Top salary $49,500 with $2000 possible in longevity"

Also governmental jobs pay well:

3/20/2007 Interpreter (Spanish)
The incumbent serves as an Interpreter in an Immigration Court, Office of the Chief Immigration Judge. Immigration proceedings involve the admissibility and deportability of aliens.

Vacancy Ann.#: EOIR-07-0073
Who May Apply: Public
Pay Plan: GS-1040-09/09
Appointment Term: Permanent
Job Status: Full-Time
Opening Date: 3/6/2007
Salary: From $47,284.00 to $61,467.00

Answer 2

You not finding a job yet may have to do with where you live. Where I live there are hundred's of jobs for translators. You could probably start out making $40,000 a year here. Try expanding your search to nearby cities or even consider moving to a different area if possible. As for the college, yes, there were times that I felt like I was wasting my time but I believe that it did prepare me and it expanded my mind. Now, will I have a discussion today about British history?Probably not, but I have seen myself grow over the past few years because of these "core" classes. I have learned how to be a better critical thinker, a researcher, and generally a more open-minded person. I hope this helps.

Answer 3

I have a bachelors in business and masters in business and im doing a job a 15 yr old could do.... just transferring calls to other people... its aweful... such as waste.... ive been applying for about 3-5 jobs per day for the last three months and only had 4 bites and 2 interviews... i just keep trying and trying hopefully i get more challenging job soon...

Answer 4

It seems that way these days. Alot of people go to college just to go to college. Maybe to please their parents, or it's because society says that's the way to be successful. I think it's a load of crap. So many people go there and just end up partying, wasting their parents money. So lame. Not just that. I find that it looks good on a resume. That's about it. Nothing more. I know so many people that have degrees, and not the job that they went to school to learn that profession, and again .....LAME!! I'm glad I never went to college. Yeah...it might have been fun. But I know...deep down....I would've partied my butt off. You're not the only one out there.

Answer 5

While it may be true that a college degree may not immediately benefit you, as one moves further and further up in their career, it can come into play.

Perfect example. My brother-in-law doesn't have a college degree but has spent his entire working life in retail. But he's being held back from a promotion to Zone Manager because he lacks a college degree. Despite his many years in the field, recommendations from multiple supervisors, and his District Manager's liking him and wanting to promote him, the degree is a 100% requirement, and so he cannot go any further without it.

And as I have often told my students, it really doesn't matter what degree one gets in college, the KEY is to obtain one. College isn't really designed to train you in anything particular, unless you're going for something technical like engineering for instance. But rather, it's to help develop a way of looking at things by expanding your viewpoints and horizons. College helps a person see things from multiple angles, and ways in which he or she may not have been exposed to before.

Answer 6

you majored in spanish.
at a college that costed enough to take out student loans?

bwahahahha.

You can easily find a job with a college degree, just look beyond the spanish classes and start applying everywhere at entry level. you make 30,000 plus as a manager at taco john's with a degree...

2.285 that's dismal. Employers don't care about your gpa tho.

Answer 7

ugh I was an art major... im so in the same boat! College sure was fun though

Answer 8

yea me too, i have the same problem