[stylist] Final comment on definition of blindness and pursuing goals

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

And I leave my final comment on this subject as well: I agree 100% with
Lynda, grin.

And now, as Ashley stated earlier, let's get back to some writing,
smile.

Bridgit
Message: 1
Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 09:30:58 -0500
From: "Lynda Lambert" <llambert at zoominternet.net>
To: "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Definition of blindness and pursuing goals
Message-ID: <23BDE2A5B0614DD5995087ED3C3F5787 at Lambert>
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="iso-8859-1";
	reply-type=original

This is my final comment on this subject. I have socks to knit!

Abraham Lincoln taught us that you cannot make anyone see anything that
they 
have not already seen for themselves.
Blindness is not always a loss of eyesight, but it can be a loss of
personal 
vision for your own future and your life.

I do not know how much the "average" 4 year university degree costs, but
I 
do know it a a lot of money and that the students will be paying their
loan 
payments for many years after they graduate. I know that when my loan 
payments started, I was overwhelmed at the reality check because I was 
working 2 and sometimes 3 jobs, and had moved across the country to have

them. I was willing to move anywhere in this world, do whatever it
takes, to 
pursue my career. And, I worked jobs that had nothing to do with my
degrees 
(I had 2 at that time, and was working on a third one.) I believe that
all 
work is worthy -  my philosophy has always been to do a job with dignity
and 
do it as if I owned that business myself. I never worked for anyone - I 
always worked for me - because I understand that work is a good thing
for 
us, and it is worthy no matter what we are doing.

 To get my MFA  degree, I had to work on it from 3 different states, and
4 
different countries during those 6 years. I was  willing to pay any
price 
that it would take, go anywhere I needed to go because I had set my goal
and 
I was going to make it regardless of the costs.

The  college where I taught costs over $100,000. for the 4 year degree,
and 
that does not include extra fees and expenses - that is just for the 4
years 
of courses.  My granddaughter is now a freshman at a college in MA, and
her 
tuition is over $50,000. a year.  She is a brilliant student, was in 
advanced placement courses and made straight A's all through high
school. 
She worked jobs all summer long, every year, to save money for college.
She 
has traveled to other countries to do volunteer work to help others have

schools and churches, and to work with children. On her winter break
this 
year, she traveled to South Africa to work in an orphanage. She worked
and 
earned the money she needed to do this.

Many of my former students, and my friends from my own days in school,
have 
a 30 year loan that they will be paying back - for 30 years!

People who choose an advanced education will be working their hearts out
to 
repay the loans they have had to make just to be where they are.

One former student who is my friend, has had to move 12 times during her

years of studies - from undergraduate, through doctorate degrees.  Her 
student loans are nearly $400,000. She married during the years of her 
pursuit and has 2 small children. One of her children was born with
heart 
damages and has had to undergo surgeries that she will be paying on the
rest 
of her life.

Professional people know that they will be moving a lot, that their
dream 
job will be a hard road to travel - they have to be willing to go
anywhere 
at all, and do it several times.

They know they will be building relationships with others in their field
for 
years, because it is through those relationships that opportunities will

come to them, eventually.  They will have to be "out there" in their
field, 
getting the latest information; doing seminars and conference
presentations; 
publishing in their field - no matter what it is that is requires; they
will 
work extra jobs on the side because one job will not pay their living 
expenses and their enormous student loan payments. (I think the typical 
student will be paying anywhere from $500 - $800 a month, for their
student 
loans. It is overwhelming.

Now, the reality is this: 48 percent of all of the students who get a 4
year 
degree will NEVER be employed in a job in their field.  That 48 percent
will 
be working jobs that require only a high school degree, or no degree at
all. 
There is somehow this notion, which is a myth, that if you get a college

degree, you are set for life. Nothing could be further from truth.

What you do get during that time of working towards your degree, is the 
rigour and dedication that it takes to make it through. This is only the

first baby steps in your career - you will have to work harder and
smarter 
than you ever imagined, and much harder than you ever had to work to get

your degree. And, you will work that way for your entire professional
life.

You will have, as Brigit has pointed out, set-backs, disappointments, 
failures, mistakes, denials, and closed doors - but yet, for those who
know 
who they are and have the tenacity to keep on going, it will all be
worth 
the price you will pay.

The question is this: What price are you willing to pay to be where you
want 
to be?
Are you willing to move anywhere in the world in pursuit of your job?
Are you willing to work 12 - 14 hour days, year after year? Are you
willing to keep on keeping on, no matter how difficult and crooked 
that road becomes?

Did you go to college for the right reasons? And, the right reason is
not 
job training. It is because you are a scholar and you are a life long 
learner. Job training is best done in technical programs or 
on-th-job-training.
If you are there just because you think you'll get a great job, you will
be 
in the 48 percent - why bother?

If you have help through scholarships or government programs, you are
truly 
blessed. Do you have any clue as to the price that is being paid for you
to 
have this? It is because you live in a country where there is compassion
and 
because people want others to have chances at a good life, too. Be
thankful 
to God for the country we live in. If you lived in any of the countries
I 
have worked in, your life path would have been  determined while you
were 
still a young child and it would not change for you.
Here, in America, you can do whatever you choose to do with your life.
It is 
ENTIRELY up to YOU. YOU will be the one who decides where you will be in

life - and you cannot blame anyone but yourself if you fail to make wise

choices or grab opportunities that come to you.  It is possible for
anyone 
in this country to excel.
It's not magic, nor is it luck, it is pure, old fashioned, hard and
smart 
work - relentlessly pursued with no excuses.

Lynda