Job security is dead in America, and the "American Dream" is on life support, with the Tea Party and their rich backers ready to pull the plug. Workers are considered expendable and paid peanuts for dangerous, backbreaking work. Those that dare complain are made examples of, and find themselves suddenly broke and unemployed.
When I tell people this is my 4th year in school, they always mention graduation. "It must be great to be almost done!" But I'm not almost done. My major is Civil Engineering, a 5-year program even on the recommended curriculum, which is a grueling, expensive, nearly unrealistic schedule of 17-19 credits per semester plus summer classes. And on my more realistic schedule of 15-16 credits with a job on the side, I'm on the home stretch, but by no means "almost done". When I finally get my degree, there's no guarantee I'll get that great well-paying job I'm looking for, So how did I go from a factory worker and high-school dropout to a 30-year old college student?