The end of the beginning of
the 21st century is a tough time
to be a college student or a
recent graduate entering the
work force.
The Bureau of Labor
Statistics puts nationwide
unemployment at 9.7 percent.
“The gap between declining
employment and rising unemployment
is greatest for college
graduates,” said Princeton
economics professor Alan B.
Krueger.
Bucks students are faced
with lots of worries and tough
decisions: What should they
major in? How will they pay
back student loans? Will they
find a job after graduation?
The Centurion staff share in
these struggles. Like the rest of
Bucks students, we are concerned
about finding a place in
the workforce of the near
tomorrow.
So the staff has produced a
package of articles, called
“Downsized Dreams,” that
focus on the pressing issue of
jobs in the United States.
Individually each article is a
piece of a puzzle. Assembled,
the puzzle shows the trials
today’s students and recent
graduates face in a world
where jobs seemingly have
become as scare as water in the
Sahara Desert.
Amylynn Bellingrath spoke
with two career counselors at
area colleges about ‘hot and
not’ jobs – jobs and majors that
are seeing a rise in hiring and
student enrollment versus jobs
and majors that are not hiring
much and are declining in student
enrollment. She talked
with Monica Flint, coordinator
of experiential learning here at
Bucks, as well as Peter J.
Franks, executive director and
associate vice provost of the
Steinbright Career
Development Center at Drexel
University.
Annmarie Ely spoke with
Theo Harkness, who graduated
from East Stroudsburg
University in May of 2009
with a bachelor’s degree in
health. Harkness, like a surprising
number of young
adults, has moved back home
with his parents after college
graduation. Ely also spoke
with Max Probst, a sociology
teacher at Bucks, who
explained why this trend of
adult children living at home is
on the rise.
Matt Flowers spoke with
“Exotica.” Exotica is working
as a stripper to pay her way
through school in pursuit of a
career as a nurse. The job pays
well, but there’s a dark side to
the world of exotic dancing: 10
years ago, Bucks student
Rachel Siani, who was also
working her way through college
as a stripper, was murdered.
I sat down with Bucks
President James Linksz. He
spoke about how Bucks is
meeting the demands of the
changing job market by offering
a host of new courses. He
also spoke about the future of
our country’s economy and the
part it will play in the new
global marketplace.
Matt Stumacher interviewed
Ian Foster, a former Bucks student
and a graduate of
University of Pennsylvania’s
Class of 2009 with a bachelor’s
in finance. Foster now works
as a waiter and bartender at a
Newtown restaurant while
seeking a job in his career
track.
We hope these articles will
provide a flicker of light to
illuminate the darkness.