[quote=carli]I keep hearing about Duckworth’s “Grit” book and it seems the term itself is the word du jour. I read the same review in the Times a couple weeks ago and thought about buying it but didn’t, partly because there were a few criticisms mentioned in the NYT review that turned me off. For example, the reviewer says “Duckworth never questions the values of a society geared towards winning” so if the author is only going to give a bunch of examples of people who have grit and pull themselves up by their bootstraps, that’s awesome and could be a fun and inspiring read, and it might be something I’d flip through, but I’m more interested in the deeper discussion. I’m not dismissing grit as a concept or important character trait but I just don’t care to read another Ted talk book.
And, yes, no doubt the Peace Corps is an achievement. Talk about competition – it’s tough these days to be accepted, probably because the job market was so tight in recent years that the Peace Corps became even more attractive for new graduates. I have no idea if my son will be accepted to a program and country of interest as the application/interview/placement process can take two years. And FIH thanks for your stamp of approval on his sociology major. 😉 I have no idea if he will ever use it specifically in a career, nor does he, as he has not developed a passion yet. It’s gravy if a kid has a specific career intention after school, but most don’t, and that’s fine by us. I have no doubt he’ll be successful and look forward to watching his journey. Good news is he has already demonstrated plenty of grit (yes, even in high school and the college admissions process!) so he’ll be fine.[/quote]carli, I believe your soon-to-be graduate is smart but most college graduates today can’t afford the luxury to continue to search for their “passion” after college graduation. They have to start paying rent and other bills and even start paying on (often HUGE) student loans within six months of graduating! They can’t bother with applying to the Peace Corps (however noble that might seem) cuz they need to start making an actual living wage ASAP, preferably yesterday. As you stated earlier on this thread, your spouse recently opined that your soon-to-be graduate is now “off the (family?) payroll.” (You have more kids coming down the pike who will likely apply for university.)
Had your soon-to-be graduate elected to major in social work instead of sociology, he could have immediately gone to work in any county in CA as an aid worker (TANF/SNAP), Medi-Cal worker or APS/CPS worker for the giant CDHS and their subsidiaries (the behemoth HHSA in 58 counties). These agencies always have openings. Yes, he would have only started out making $45-$50K, but that is actually a living wage in many CA counties. In addition, he would have received leave benefits upon employment, all other benefits within one month of employment, a clear career path laid out before him and become vested in a DBP after five years of service. Most agencies also offer educational benefits, which would have nearly paid for him to earn his MSW in the evenings.
Of course, I’m not saying here that a social work career would have been right for your son as I don’t know him. But it is a much more “practical” degree than sociology (sans a teaching credential).
A new university graduate has to get their foot in the door somewhere to begin their careers. It doesn’t matter much at this point in their lives if they feel they will be “passionate” about their first jobs … or not. They need to start acting like adults and taking responsibility for themselves (and their student loan(s), if they have any). If they take another year+ to “find themselves” after college, their more savvy (and hungry) “brethren” will have snapped up all the entry-level FT jobs around their CA campus using their freshly-minted diplomas and academic-advisor reccos as “street cred.” The early bird gets the worm. I never had to insist that my kid(s) get FT jobs right out of college. They already had one lined up before graduation without any input from their parents.
The vast majority of boomers took FT work right out of HS/college which many millenials today would consider “slogging” and beneath them. Or, in the alternative, boomers immediately joined (or were drafted into) the military right out of HS/college. Yes, even the ones who had college degrees :=0
Our generation valued independence from parents ASAP and needed/wanted to support ourselves (with a spouse often in tow) straight out of the gate. Fortunately, for us, getting out on our own was a bit more doable (financially) then than it is now.
