> “Most of my colleagues are unjustifiably ashamed,” she said. “They take this personally, as if they’ve failed, and I’m always telling them, ‘you haven’t failed, the system has failed you.’”
While I sympathize with these people and I know in my heart they are treated unjustly, I still cringed at this quote.
Was there a US president coming at your graduation and promising you a bright future if you pursued your academical ambitions? Were there crowds of businessmen coming there and assuring you all that you will get funding until the rest of your life?
I'd reckon no.
Let's put it bluntly: you failed to adapt and now it's finally coming to haunt you, and you most likely ignored many signs along the road. I know it's easy for me to talk being a programmer, and we are gonna be in demand for quite a while still. But I wasn't always well-paid. In fact, most of my career has been spend with very toxic employers, colleagues and freelance customers. At certain point of my life, I realized I had to make tough and big changes -- changes I was not emotionally okay with but I knew I had to do them because otherwise I'd end up on the street. And I did. And it hurt a lot. But I am not threatened by living on the street for a long time now. And years later, I am now proud of myself for having the courage to recognize it was time to move on from a few toxic / non-constructive areas of my older life.
The writing has been on the wall for a LONG time that the educational jobs are on the decline. At least for 15 years now. (No I won't cite studies; I am talking about a general feeling related to the tone of many news stories over the years, plus tens of anecdata from people in the area I happen to be well-acquainted with, including my brother.)
I will not make this into USA bashing but I can't help but notice that many Americans are finding themselves helpless after believing in "the system" their whole lives. Same goes for people I knew in Germany, UK, France, Netherlands and Sweden.
This is much less so in Eastern Europe where I am from (although it still happens to quite a lot of people; percentage-wise though, it feels like they're much smaller group compared to USA).
You have to believe more in your own abilities and trust less "the system". The system has been devised to help keep things in a relative order and nothing much else. The system doesn't stay awake at night, worrying if you will end up homeless. That's one of the harsh truths in life that many people, and a lot of them much older than me, refuse to accept and live their lives in accordance with.
I still think that a public official holding an inspirational speech doesn't hold any value though, out there in the material world. It's sad that many people believe in this propaganda of sorts and integrate it as one of the mottos in their lives. :(
While I sympathize with these people and I know in my heart they are treated unjustly, I still cringed at this quote.
Was there a US president coming at your graduation and promising you a bright future if you pursued your academical ambitions? Were there crowds of businessmen coming there and assuring you all that you will get funding until the rest of your life?
I'd reckon no.
Let's put it bluntly: you failed to adapt and now it's finally coming to haunt you, and you most likely ignored many signs along the road. I know it's easy for me to talk being a programmer, and we are gonna be in demand for quite a while still. But I wasn't always well-paid. In fact, most of my career has been spend with very toxic employers, colleagues and freelance customers. At certain point of my life, I realized I had to make tough and big changes -- changes I was not emotionally okay with but I knew I had to do them because otherwise I'd end up on the street. And I did. And it hurt a lot. But I am not threatened by living on the street for a long time now. And years later, I am now proud of myself for having the courage to recognize it was time to move on from a few toxic / non-constructive areas of my older life.
The writing has been on the wall for a LONG time that the educational jobs are on the decline. At least for 15 years now. (No I won't cite studies; I am talking about a general feeling related to the tone of many news stories over the years, plus tens of anecdata from people in the area I happen to be well-acquainted with, including my brother.)
I will not make this into USA bashing but I can't help but notice that many Americans are finding themselves helpless after believing in "the system" their whole lives. Same goes for people I knew in Germany, UK, France, Netherlands and Sweden.
This is much less so in Eastern Europe where I am from (although it still happens to quite a lot of people; percentage-wise though, it feels like they're much smaller group compared to USA).
You have to believe more in your own abilities and trust less "the system". The system has been devised to help keep things in a relative order and nothing much else. The system doesn't stay awake at night, worrying if you will end up homeless. That's one of the harsh truths in life that many people, and a lot of them much older than me, refuse to accept and live their lives in accordance with.