Saturday, March 14, 2020

Trippin' Down Memory Lane

Here's a question for all of you, and I've love to hear what you have to say.

If you went to college or a trade school after high school, who paid for it?  Did your parents foot the bill?  Or did you work a year or two before being able to afford more education?  Did you have a partial or full scholarship?  Did you have to take out a loan of some kind to go to school?  Did you work part time while going to school to be able to afford it?  Did you join a branch of the military to get more education?

Or if you didn't pursue any further education after high school, did you continue to live at home or move into your own living situation?  If so, was it by yourself or with a roommate?  How did you support yourself?  What was your first job in order to do so?  Did any of you marry right after high school graduation?

I'm thinking your answers, dear readers, will be very interesting, but different than if I presented the same questions to the average twenty or thirty or even forty year old of today.

So, do tell.  What's your personal story? 

27 comments:

wisps of words said...

Wheeeeee... Lotsa' questions...

*~Went to college.....way back in 1955-58.....only child..... parents paid for it.

*~Did not work for it.

*~Received a B.S. in Economic and Business Education. (Can you _image_ how that has changed????? Electric typewriters where the most progressive things we had. And does anyone remember mimeograph machines? No computers yet! No everything-gone-techy yet! A world of difference!)

*~Married late autumn, after graduating college in 1958. So went right from home, to marriage.

Different from today, or even "just yesterday" people's answers!!!! -grin-

Repeat, does anyone even remember a mimeograph machine??????????????

Stay wise.
Stay calm.
Stay safe.
Courage!
🍃🌱🌷🌱🍃

wisps of words said...

Thank you so much, for posting!!!!

I so hope Pretty Blog Land will not go fully dry.

We need each other, even more, in such weird times.

Stay wise.
Stay calm.
Stay safe.
Courage!
🍃🌱🌷🌱🍃

Sparkless said...

I paid for the bulk of my degree myself. I worked, saved and got student loans and was awarded a couple of bursaries but nothing like a partial or full scholarship. My parents helped out with books. I went back to school when I was older and married so I lived with my husband who worked. I could not afford to get a degree otherwise. We live in a small town and there were no universities you could live at home and go to. There is a local college and I did do my first two years of university credits through them but I didn't live with my parents at the time. I graduated university with a degree when I was 30 years old.

Mama Pea said...

wisps of words - I know what you mean to say by "I did not work for it," but you did the "work" of getting your degree!

I do remember mimeograph machines! Oh, the buggers that they were when they wouldn't work correctly. Electric typewriters had just come into being when I was in high school. I took both college prep courses (in high school) and also what were called secretarial courses, too, so I learned shorthand, typing and all the rest that went with those things.

Truer words were never spoken as in your second comment. I think everyone is a little shell shocked right now, but things will settle down and we'll all get back to posting as usual.

Sparkless - Good for you, girl! You put in the effort and got your degree. Sounds like you stuck with your desire to do so and did it even though it wasn't easy. Congrats!

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I went to university right after grade 13 (that doesn't exist anymore, highschool now only goes to grade 12). I had to apply for something known as O.S.A.P. which a loan system if you qualified for it. My parents did not and were not able to pay. I lived off campus, but I wish I had lived in residence at least for my first year. I encouraged both of my kids to live in residence as well, which they did. I rented a little house with a couple of other female students. I ended up with a four year combined honours B.A., and then went on to a get my B. Ed. right after that and had to move to another province in Canada do to so. I worked hard to pay off my loans as soon as I got my first teaching job. It feels like forever ago! -Jenn

tpals said...

Good questions. After high school I moved far away and spent a year in San Antonio. Lovely place, but I wasn't meant for city life. Moved back, got married, had a baby.

My parents didn't approve of my going to college, so I ended up going after I was a widow. Loans, paid off myself as soon as I could.

Finally got my BS leading to twenty years at one company.

Mama Pea said...

Jenn - You, like many others, deserve one heckuva lot of credit for what you did to get your degrees. Working hard to support yourself plus pay off loans when you had your first job required hardships, I'm sure, and a lot of personal responsibility. I think much of the whole experiencing college (and perhaps growing up, too) is being able to live on campus for at least one year and I'm glad your kids both did that. A small taste of what it's like to be "out in the world" and, in a small way, a break from living at home with parents.

tpals - Gosh, you're another one who had to exhibit a lot of determination and ability to work hard. Couldn't give you more credit for doing so!

Gen said...

The answers so far are very interesting!
In my country, the government has interest free loans for university and apprenticeships, which only increase to keep up with inflation, and the money is deducted out of your paycheck once you finish the course, get a job, and earn over a certain threshold.

So, I studied straight after high school (four year science degree), working a casual job at the same time and paying rent to my parents. Then, when I finished the degree (end of 2012) and got a full-time job, I rented a room in a sharehouse, closer to my workplace. I was very happy there, and saved enough money that I bought my own place a while ago. Not getting married any time soon though!

Genevieve

Cockeyed Jo said...

I got married two days after high school turning down a full ride scholarship. Really ticked off my parents. I took my college fund that I had been saving and applied for two other scholarships and grants, I paid for my first BSN. Worked and saved for three other BA degrees, 1 Masters and 1 PhD kids (5) and spouses along for the ride. Absolutely NO Student loans!

There were many a night after working til 5 PM, I had classes from 6M-10PM, went home, did the laundry, picked up the house, checked all the homeworks, kissed each kid, husband, and fell into bed. To start again at 5AM to do my homework and spend time with the family to achieve my goals.

Two years on this schedule was done as a single parent of five children at home. I had kids in three different schools at the time. Talk about a PTA nightmare!

What was really interesting was I met husband #2 in college and we had quite a few classes together for some extra time together.

Mama Pea said...

Genevieve - YOUR answer is very interesting! I'm curious to know what country you're in. You sound like a gal who has set goals in her life and has worked hard to attain them. To have purchased your own home already is very admirable! I have a feeling if and when you find a life partner (your choosing), it will be the right time for you!

Cockeyed Jo - My mouth is hanging open at these answers all you are sharing. How in the world did you EVER manage to do all you've done??! My admiration soars!

Cockeyed Jo said...

Mama, At the time I had little choice. By the time my first husband and I divorced, we had the children. I was partially disabled from an accident and had to get a new career in education. I was more than halfway through my BS in middle school education with a focus on special needs. I was also pursuing a culinary arts degree thinking I'd teach home economics. Of course budget cuts in education killed that program, but I was halfway through that degree as well. I try not to leave things halfway done. It sets a bad example for my children. I had to finish.

I called myself the master juggler. I squeezed every second into minutes and averaged 4 hours of sleep every night with one night of 8 hours sleep a week. That was pretty much my lifestyle from 1976 until 2015. While pursuing my PhD, I worked two jobs and worked as an author/free lance writer. I had 30 published titles under my belt by 2012. I joke and say that God gave me a stroke to teach me to slow down in 2012. It's only partially worked. HAHAHA!

Mama Pea said...

Cockeyed Jo - I'm sitting here shaking my head. Would I have ever had the stamina and drive and dedication to do what you have done? I don't truly know, but as you say, you do what you have to do at the time in the place where you are. But it seems to me you must have gotten an extra big dose of ambition and go-get-'em to have accomplished all you have. I'm glad you shared your story.

Marie said...

... my freshman year at MSU was $800 of hard earned cash === at a job that paid $1.75 an hour ... it took every penny --- years 2,3 & 4 had full ride need/academic scholarships ... and never wasted a moment or a dime of the money -- Accounting/Computer Science -- -- it's all about work ethic that I still have today ...:)

Mama Pea said...

Marie - That old-fashioned work ethic that seems to be lacking by so many today. This is so good to hear from you all and realize that good, down home values are still believed in and practiced today. Why can't we hear more of this kind of thing instead of all the news about all the boozing and drugs that seem to be prevalent on college campuses? Or rampant in the age group that should be growing, maturing and making preparations for a responsible life? Thanks for your comment.

Michelle said...

I went to a private (boarding) high school followed immediately by private college (four-year BS degree). I could have lived at home for college, but my mom encouraged me to live in the residence hall so I could be more involved in student life. The expectation to get a college education (BEFORE marrying) AND help pay for it was never questioned; I was 'brainwashed' (bless my mom!) from an early age. So throughout HS and college I worked part-time during the school year and full-time every summer and don't remember ever seeing a paycheck; it all went straight to tuition. My parents paid the rest (discounted when one or both parents worked for the college); I KNEW they both worked hard and forewent a lot of 'extras' to put us through school (my step-brother graduated from HS but got married instead of going to college; my baby sister came along when I was 13). I took out one small student loan my senior year, and paid it off by the end of the following summer. I also got married that summer (very modest wedding!) after we both graduated, and worked full-time while my husband went to veterinary school to pay for all our household bills and his books (he worked full-time every summer to contribute; his parents did pay his tuition). As modeled by my parents, we forewent all extras and lived very frugally, shopping at Food4Less and Walmart. Somehow we don't seem to have passed ANY of this on to our son....

Michelle said...

Oh Mama Pea; when do we get YOUR answers??? 😉

wisps of words said...

Sun. 4pm

Come on Hon! Post the wise stuff, you just said in a comment on my last post!

Why not? Perhaps if enough people say.... "Learn from this, to live, wisely prepared..." It will get through to them. :-)

Hugs...

Stay wise.
Stay calm.
Stay safe.
Courage!
🍃🌷🌱🌷🍃

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - I'm seeing a pattern here. Most of us (not coming from wealthy families in most instances!) worked for any education we got after high school. And often to support our mates for a couple/few years after that! It's my opinion that your son has been raised in a generation where social media has had a far greater impact on a young person than ever before. And it's darn hard for parents to compete with all the less than stellar values and lack of need for self-responsibility that is glorified and presented as "you DESERVE it" without any work to attain whatever "it" may be. All we can do is hope (and, yes, pray) that a young person will come to the realization that what is presented is not ultimately real or something that will lead him/her to any lasting satisfaction or contentment in life. Thanks for your story, Michelle.

Okay, I'll get my own answers to my questions up here shortly.

wisps of words - As with all things, people have to learn and grow from their own mistakes sometimes. I don't like to come off as preachy, but good golly, wouldn't you think a lot of folks would learn a lesson from this latest incident and give some thought to what they could/should do to prepare for any kind of emergency that might come along? I think too many of the people around today have never had to "take care of themselves" or gone through the deprivation older generations have. Just look at how many of the younger generations (being adults and living on their own) cannot even cook! They have never come close to experiencing having to take care of themselves in the most basic of ways. And because they've never lived in times when there wasn't always someone else to bail them out of any little difficulty, they've never had to learn how to do it themselves. Just imagine what they would do if the grocery stores (let alone takeout!) no longer had food on the shelves. That case of peanut butter, some dried fruit, can of dried milk powder, 25 lbs. of flour and some yeast stored under their bed would look very appetizing! Except. How many would know what to do with it?

Mama Pea said...

Michelle asked me to answer my own questions I posed to all of you. Okay, here goes.

The fall after high school graduation I went off to college, lived in a dorm. My parents footed the bill while I continued to work back in my home town school vacations and summers. Saved all the money earned but it wasn't much compared to the total cost of schooling. My second year away at school, I met my husband-to-be (aka Papa Pea) in September. We knew right away we wanted to be married, but my folks thought I was too young and said once I married they wouldn't pay for any more college. We set a date of December of that year to be married, and I ended up quitting school before I finished my second year when I hand the opportunity of a good paying job in my home town. I paid rent to my folks while continuing to live with them. Papa Pea continued to attend school and work part-time but we were living about an hour away from each other so decided to move the wedding up to August of that year. He finished his second year of school but then changed his major (and school) so I worked the next four years before he got his degree while he worked part-time whenever he could. Those were an exciting, tough four years. We lived in a one-room, 14' x 16' cabin with no running water, but did have electricity. Once when we couldn't scrounge together enough for his year's tuition, we sold my engagement ring. He was against it, but I was more than willing to do that rather than have him lose out on a year of schooling. Besides, it was during the war in Viet Nam and he probably would have been drafted if he hadn't stayed in school with top-notch grades. But we made it through without having to take out any loans so were able to become millionaires (hahahaheehee) as soon as he graduated and became a highly paid (hahahaheehee) teacher. Realtively speaking, we had it pretty easy compared to what some of the rest of you have indicated you had to do to get your degrees.

Shawneen said...

I went to a private college straight out of high school. My parents gave me gas money. I had some small scholarships and small student loans. I worked at the college during the week and at a hospital switchboard on the weekends. My husband had some scholarships but he worked constantly to pay his own way. He would eat in the cafeteria every meal and would get we ones because it had no money after fees and tuition were paid. We paid back my loans by eating lots of home grown veggies.

Our daughter just finished her PhD.... student loan free. We did not help and she did not take out loans. She worked 2 or 3 jobs at night and saved money. Our son has loans yet he is paying them back. Both believe in hard work and responsible behavior.

Education should not be free but should be affordable. Yet it should be said anything of value is worth working for.

Michelle said...

I forgot to mention that I did get a small scholarship for being the valedictorian of my HS class, and might have gotten a little bit for test scores.

Mama Pea said...

Shawneen - You're another wonderful example of showing it can be done without handouts that often are not paid back. I so admire people who are willing to do without to reach their goals. Your kids are amazing. I wonder how many your daughter's age have achieved a PhD without incurring staggering loans to be paid back? Not many, I'll bet. Why don't we hear more about young adults like your son and daughter these days rather than only hearing of the ones that seem to be wasting their early adult years by exhibiting no sense of responsibility or willingness to work hard toward a goal? I do think people's thinking might change a little if we were bombarded with more good news about good people (both young and old) and the lives they're living.

Anonymous said...

College right after HS, grants and loans all four years, plus work study and cook for Pizza Hut last two years. Lived in residence halls first two years, off campus last two. Parents helped when they could. Didn't get a job right after graduation so returned home, working whatever, paid rent to folks. Eight months later had job, within eight months into my own apartment - worked that job for 20 years. Took 10 years to pay off loans.

Dee

Mama Pea said...

Dee - Ten years to pay off your loans. And yet you did it! I think the interesting thing is that even though you sought out grants and loans to get you through college (as many people have to do), you still worked a job as much as you could (and some jobs, I know, could never be called fun or "glamorous"!) while going to school. I hope I'm incorrect in this thinking but from what I've seen and heard, some college age people look upon the loans they get as a freebie that doesn't really need to be paid off. Kudos to you for being hard-working and responsible!

Retired Knitter said...

Well I was the first one in. my family to go to college and I didn't even know I wanted to until 11th grade. Shock to my parents. I worked part time and helped pay for it. My mom scraped up what she could. I got through without any loans. I lived at home and lived close enough to the university to take buses, two actually having to transfer at one point from bus to another (my version of walking up hill both ways to go to school.). My dad was against me going to college - he had a 9th grade education so education was never valued. Said I was just going "to find a husband." That was not true but I did find a husband there. We waited to get married until I was graduated (because I wouldn't quit for anything.). Graduated one weekend in June and married the very next weekend. Never lived on my own which I regret. Encouraged both my kids to attend college (only one did) and to live on campus. My daughter also worked to help pay for her college - but we helped and there were no loans. My only regret in all of that was not taking one additional year to live on my own. I might have made different choices. But my life has been fine and I have no regrets. Feel sorry for kids now-a-days. It is just too darn expensive to go to school with taking out loans.

Mama Pea said...

Retired Knitter - Yes, I, too, wish I had lived on my own for a year or two before getting married. I can't help but think it would have changed me . . . in one way or another! Good or bad? Dunno, but that's something I feel I missed out on in life. The cost of higher education is out of sight, but there are scholarships and "helps" out there if one knows where to look. I believe that's what guidance counselors (or whatever their current title is) in high schools are supposed to do. I really could have used help in steering me toward following any talent or desire I had at that time of my life, but got it from no one. I also longed to go to a small college, but didn't know how to go about arranging that. Ended up at a big state school where I didn't know what path to follow and got a little lost in the crowd. Oh, for hindsight, eh? How we would do things differently!

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