Hello all I know it's been a while since I have posted, but I have returned with probably one of my best posts.
A young lady from my hometown sent me this letter of hers to read and critique. She is contemplating sending it to the President. I thin she is actually going to send it. She said that she was extremely tired of the negative things going on job wise in America. She recently received a raise at work and they only gave her a 38 cent raise. She said she felt like a monkey dancing for peanuts. lol
There is so much going on in the political world as it trickles down from the White House, to the local governments then it trickles on down to the business owners and then on down to the people. It is sad! I live in the Georgia, and just about everybody that you meet is trying to get a dollar from someone, somewhere, somehow. What happened to genuine love, good, kind people who are not just taking a person's kindness for granted?
April 13, 2011
(when she mailed the letter)
Dear President Barack and Michelle Obama,
June 27, 2010
(previos letter)
Where is the Bailout for the previous college students who have yet to receive minimum salary positions under the Bush Administration. Some of us had to settle for jobs other than what we went to college for. We want to pay back the rest of our loans. What about us!
My name is Annonymous. I am a 29 year old African American educated female who works full-time as an Assistant Manager of a retail store. I have No children, never been married, and I am on the verge of completing a 3rd degree.(my addiction to education has finally come to an end)
My Background
I am from a small town in Connecticut called New Britain. Coming out of high school I had very little ambition. I dealt with racism and prejudice at a very young age. (in the North) The only thing on my mind at that time was working, boys, and shopping.
I was told by my high school counselor, Mrs. Galleghar, that my GPA and class rank were too low to be accepted into a 4 year college. The majority of my friends back home had children at early ages. I was raised in the church. St. James Baptist Church. I was not a perfect child, but I primarily did what I was told to do.
Against my counselors predictions, I began receiving offers from 4 year colleges. That’s when I started becoming more optimistic about my life, where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.
Today I have a Bachelor of Arts and Science Degree from
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. I majored in Mass Communications, Broadcast Production and Journalism.
I interned at an AM Gospel radio station, an FM college radio station, and worked for a television station. I also volunteered at the Arlington News Museum, not knowing that I could have had a paid position until the position ended.
I later decided to obtain a Master Degree in Arts Management and Music Business from Columbia College in Chicago. I wanted to have a better chance of making more money in my field because it was not happening for me yet.
With this degree I interned for
Ch'rewd, a Marketing and Promotions company, I was a bartender at the historic Cotton Club, and I was also Executive Assistant/ Intern Coordinator for Icee Records where one of our gospel songs won a national Stellar Award in 2004/2005. I was only paid $100 every 2 weeks. I am currently coming to an end with my Associates Degree in Web Design and Interactive Media / Information Architecture. I went back to school because I did not know what to do. I did not want to be out on the street, just after Sony BMG kicked me to the curb the day after my hiring in New York City. That would have been my big break!
My Goals
My current goals are to start a nonprofit and and hold a full-time government position with a salary of no less than $50,000/yr. I need a team, an Executive board, but most important I need counsel. I would like to start HEYA (Housing for Educated Young Adults), a nonprofit inspired by my own trials and tribulations after college, and LC Inc. (Ladies Choice) An After School Enrichment and Mentor program for girls. (maybe one for boys too)
The Problem
I am a person who was raised to work hard for what I want. I have been trained to work and pay bills on time. At this very minute I am not sure if at any given point I will be taken to court by a creditor for not paying on time, lose my job as Assistant Manager and not be able to pay for my 1 bedroom apartment, or simply have to live on the streets. I have at this time over six figures in student loans and I work a job that only pays me $10hr. I have sought after salary position after position for the last 7 years and have yet to receive one. I have tried several different interviewing methods (aggressive, non aggressive) I have interviewed with numerous jobs and have been turned down when I clearly have had the experience. I keep getting offered hourly wages hidden by the word “salary” and internships when I am clearly an educated young adult who has passed GO, and is ready to start my career. At this time I am contemplating the military. I was not taken seriously for some reason by the recruiter. I still have the national security clearance papers, but I do not feel comfortable with the recruiter who was out washing his car when he was suppose to be helping me at his office.
Many of my family members are beginning to get sick and there is nothing at all that I can do to help any of them financially. I am seeking a secure life for myself. I can not marry a man and start a life without knowing that my own is taken care of first. I am strong and independent, but at 29 years old working harder than the struggle would be to fight for the equality of my pay. Every now and then I get an adrenalin rush to continue the journey. I am not one to give up or sit around and wait for anyone. I recently had to accept food stamps from the government and I never in this lifetime thought that I would need food stamps when I could just work, get paid enough, and buy groceries. I was declined food stamps the following month because the office said they mailed me a letter and I say they didn’t. If I am not in school, then I do not qualify because I make too much money. How is that possible? I have loans, rent, and gas. I can buy a dollar menu item at a fast food chain, but then that is not helping me healthwise. If I become fat, then I have to buy bigger clothes.
What I have done to help myself
Since I am not getting hired for any salaried positions. I have felt a diar need to volunteer my time. Last year I did some behind the scenes work for Michelle Obama. (The underdogs don't really get brought to the forefront.) I worked on the External Affairs team at
The Points of Light Institute in Atlanta, GA. Summer 2009 Michelle had a community service conference in Arkansas. I collaborated over 100 pages of volunteer stories from all over the world and categorized them I assume so that Mrs.Obama could chose which ones to talk about. My office put together Mrs.Obama's commentary. I was not invited to the conference because I was only a volunteer. I also just finished volunteering with the Hands on Atlanta After School Enrichment program where we help children in low performing schools with homework, reading, writing because they might not have a parent that wants to help them or make them do the work. We also help feed, clothe, and develop better attitudes and their demeanor. I also volunteer at my church
New Life Baptist Church in Lithonia, GA, where under Pastor Marlin D. Harris we actually do what a church is suppose to do in the American community. We are what I call a mini mega church, but only for the right reasons. We literally go and help take people off the street and put them in homes. We cloth and feed people, and much more. So even though my situation is not all that good it makes me smile and feel better when I help someone else.
How You Might be Able to Help
1. Please create/ add on a new Education policy that states that when a student finishes their first degree they must work a government position in education, military, or one of the categories that in turn erases our student loans. It should be mandatory for the first 3-4yrs. This will cut down on students owning so much money. If we are bound by contract.
Part of this policy should also stipulate that any degree student must get hired on to any job being payed a mandatory minimum of at least $30,000 a year.
2. Would you please connect me to someone who can help me get at least one of my nonprofit businesses off the ground and running. I am not a failure and would just like to trust the right people to help me do this. In closing, There are so many other students out here just like me, but afraid to speak up. I know a lot of people, but I am not credible because I have yet to become financially stable. I began writing this letter just before President Bush stepped down in 2008. I did not send
it because I felt that it would go in one ear and out the other, or into the trash can. I just saw you on "The View" saying that you do read 'The People's" letters. I felt inspired to go on and finish this letter. There are blogs about this topic on Facebook and other places online. President Obama and Michelle please do not forget about the poor educated who want to work, but have been duped into obtaining college degrees to make more money. Some of us are not making it at all because we can not get a salary to start. We are the ones who's family members look up to them and ask, "How can you have all these degrees and no good job?" There are regular jobs and then there are educated positions that should be given to whomever fits the criteria. Can you believe that I was even turned down from
Randstad, a national hiring service, where the recruiter told me they would not interview because I was looking for a second job. They only wanted to hire first timers. I hope that we can work together to make some of these initiatives come to fruition with ‘your say’ attached.
Update
On August 12, 2010 I was forced to withdraw from finishing my third degree because for the past year, while in school, the loan companies would not defer my loans. They called me 24/7 for one year straight. I don't know what to do? I have applied, and applied some more, and what I need is a position that will pay me a salary, not per hour. I want to desperately pay back my loans, but can not find enough to make ends meet. I want to work. It has been 5 years realistically that I have been seeking the right position and pay. I can no longer settle for $10/hr when my debt is well over $100,000.
2011 Update (current letter)
I just finished watching your speech on 4/13/11 and as a solution for my generation and the generations to come, I am willing to help you and Mrs. Obama tackle issues that affect the younger generations. A large percent of the deficit comes from students with outstanding loans, such as myself. I currently owe well over $100,000 in student loans. How and why? Well I was duped into believing that I would be able to start my career after my 1st degree and start with a minimum salary of $30,000. I am now 3 degrees in and have yet to see a minimum salary. I am 30 yrs old. from my understanding a salary is a paycheck that an employee receives every two weeks which for example could range from at least $1000 to $2000 every two weeks. I have only seen (sudo salaries) paychecks that equal to no more that $300 weekly or $500 every two weeks. I have also seen what my current job calls Chinese overtime which means. We are being gypped for our time! I thought this was illegal? I have worked since the age of 16 and worked throughout my college years. I am committed and dedicated. Does that stand for anything?
President Obama part of the issue here is that we are dealing with a country full of people who make decisions based on biases and stereotypes and not integrity! It's deeper than tax cuts and I know you know this!
One Summer I worked 3 jobs at a time. One in Washington D.C., Arlington, VA, and in Alexandria VA. I loved it! I payed off a couple of Credit cards and bills just in one Summer. Is this possible anywhere else in the world? I am not sure, but for a full-time position in the Washington D.C. area I am willing to move and permanently dedicate my Monday-Friday to work on issues that will help my generation and help sway them to live within their means to help the future of America's economy anyway that I can. The media also has a mean impact on the way the generations have made decisions.
Education:
The main problem with why other countries kids are passing us on the education race is because we have outdated and nonsense teacher requirements. The SAT, ACT, and the GRE are all outdated tests. Not only that, but there are millions of different curriculums across the country, when in fact we should all be using the same one! Maybe with different levels to distinguish between the not so smart and the extremely smart.
I think If a person has one or more college degrees they should be automatically qualified to teach!(plus a background check of course) Do you know how many more teachers we would have in America if the outdated standards/requirements were changed?
Why don’t we make the New Requirements: pass the basic skills test (writing, reading, and math) plus a college degree and then that's what we teach based on the grades and the degree that we got in college! if we got As and Bs in English then we qualify to teach that subject. if we got a D or an F then obviously you would not make that person an instructor.
Scratch the SAT, ACT, and GRE for Americans. Those tests should be given to those non Americans or people who have just obtained citizenship to see if they understand what America is about! We have already gone through it!
I took a GRE prep course and the instructor told the class that if we read the Newspaper more it would help us pass the GRE. Taken as an insult, some of us dropped the class. I personally, have been reading newspapers since i was 10yrs of age or younger! If you would have told me that a college prep test would be based on words from the newspaper, I would have saved and reviewed each paper. Some things some people just have to try and take initiative to change on their own.
Recently, I passed the writing part of the basic skills test, but have to pay more money to take the math and writing parts. After passing those tests I would only qualify to be a paraprofessional. I would love to teach students if the tests were not so outdated. I did not do well on the SAT back in 1998, but in 2003 and 2006 I graduated with honors. So how do these tests actually prove that I am unqualified to teach. Some people are just not test takers, but more hands on. I worked with an inner city elementary school and basically acted as a p/t teacher. So a volunteer can get actual on hands teacher training, but someone with a college degree can not if they don’t pass a test? President please hire me to be on a committee to work with the policies in the Education Department.
My solution has always been to work hard, but now it is time that I make sure I am working towards a beneficial purpose!
Kindest Regards,
Miss Annonymous
