Blog 12

Un-edited Transcript

John Acito

Me for the record could you please state your name,age,and where you went to college.

D my name is d, I am 25, and I went to Rutgers for undergraduate.

Me what did you go for?

D um I went for a bachelors of science in public health

Me that’s very cool..um so tell me uh a little bit about your upbringing, where did you grow up.

D uh um I grew up in scotch plains fanwood.

Me ok did you go to spfhs?

D yes

Me what year did you  graduate

D 2006

Me do you have any siblingsor are you an only child

D no I am one of 4

Me Are you the oldest or youngest?

D I am the second oldest, I have an older sister and two younger brothers

Me um do you recal any feelings associated with extending your educationafter high school?

D uh well

Me like any pressures or anything to go to college?

D uh I didn’t feel any pressure per say. It wasn’t likei had to go but I wanted to. I feel if I had ssaid I didn’t want to go that there would have been some push back from myparents.

Me so your parents were very stern about you going to college?

D um welli think it waskinda understood…it just seemednatural to go to college and I wanted to go into higher education and it was support, I think if I didn’t want to go and I had some sort of reasonable plan, I think they would have supported that as well.

Me ok um so what went into your decision in choosing a college and was it an exciting time or

D yea well it was a really high stress time for a lot of peoplein my gradebut my goal was to not be stressed, I kind of, I kind of  wanted to go to a bigger school wereas some of my colleagues applied to 4 plus schools or even 8 different schools um I decided to apply to just Rutgers and temple, I didn’t do any extensive research really, I didn’t visit any of the schools

Me well there is nothing wrong with that

D yea my sister went to Rutgers and she um had me visit her a couple of times and I liked it and it was kind of a big school and I thought I could get in, I don’t it was weird looking back that I didn’t do any extensive research on it honestly it was a gmable when inapplied and I got into both. For financial reasons I went to Rutgers

Me  yea I was going to get to a question like that. So what was the priority in choosing a school, was it strictly finiacial, location, or prestige or friends, or the

D it was location and affordability, not to mention Rutgers has a good name associated with it and I wanted to go to a bigger state school no matter what but the driving factor was affordability and location

Me was the loan process ever explained to you like going into college or even in high school prepping for college?

D um no um when it came down to me getting accepted It was understood that I would takeout a loan…

,e who told you about … that you had to take out a loan

D my parents…um I remember my mom was at the computer with me and said hey check these forms out and we applied and I got approved like instantly and I kind of took it from there

Me ok were there any consequences explaind to you like if you were to default on a loan

D no I mean

Me like did it feel like a big decision at the time orany pressure by it

D no no but it was my only option that if I wanted to go to school unless I wanted to go part time even though we didn’t discuss that, um if I wanted to be a full time student I would have to take out a loan and all I was told was that when you come out of college and you pay it atleast pay the minimum

And that was it

Me ok um im just trying to gage how much knowledge you had going into college about your loans and the loan process

D I didn’t know a lot just that I would have to pay it back, I still know nothing about what determinesmy interest rates or who makesthem I had no clue

Me did you see how much it would be

D yes

Me and did that scare you at all?

D uh yea they break it down for you like hey if you take out 5000 at this interest rate you willowe this much when you gradute

Me yea they show you a lower numbers rather than a what a normal 4 year program would be

Medid that fear of loan debt affect your choice of major or what field you went into

D uh um I alittle bit, yes come to think of it.

It didn’t affect me going to school butmy parents weren’t going to pay for it and they made that pretty clear I also didn’t get a job to save up, for like atleast books or something,but to answer your question I always like the sciences I was originally a bio major  and I was pre med cause I wanted to be a physician so I was like uhh it doesn’t matter how many loans Im going to take out I will make it back after med school but that was never realized but as time went on and I found a field I most liked I looked into what was going to make themost money with that degree and I went into it with my masters.

Me ok um do you think it is fair for schools to charge the same amount  price for different  majors, basically im just building off what you were talking about saying if you had a med school degree the job market is good you can make a lot of money very quickly and pay back those loans fast, but just looking  at a bachelors degree in art or drawing should that be the same priceas in engineering or like accounting likedo you think its fair.

D yes I do I mean as long  I mean across different departments you get different qualities of education but it’s the same if you from an accredited schoolall the departments offer a comparable quality of education, I think the job market has nothing to do in that, I think if I had a bachelors in philosophy I don;’t thik that would keep me fromgetting a job so long as its from a creditided school

Me ok well I wanted to talk to you a little bit about gen eds andwhaqt your stance is. Most schools require students to take approximately 2years of gen eds courses and I just wanted to hear what you thought, like do you think this is just a way to get kids to stay in school longer to get more money or do you think its really thereto benefit the education. Sorry let me refrase, is it better to get awell rounded education or or one that really focuses on what you want to do in your life

D so I think um maybe, uh I don’t know but I think they  do that because coming out of high school kids don’t necessarily know what they want to do even if they did, I think there is some statistic that kids change their minds on their majors x amount of times in their college careers. So its um sometimes maybe its toomany options contribute to the confusion of finding amajor and making kids feel lost and not really knowing what to do ,but I don’t think it’s a scam, I think it’s necessary and valuable.

Me ok well I get what your saying, but what about if an adult wants to  school they have to go through the same deal as kids out of high school have to. And still have to take all those gen eds even though they are more mature and for the most part know exactly what they want to do.

D just because your older than me doesn’t give you uh um I don’t know a get out of free jail card

Me haha

D haha yea I don’t think they should discriminate like if my dad had to go back to school and had to pay less cause hes an adult and more established hed be paying less

Mewell it wouldn’t be paying less he would just be at school for less amount of time which yes I guess is less but im getting at

D yea so paying less

Me yea but what if it were just 2 years for a bachelors instead of 4 years

d well that would be great but you would miss out on classes that are fun like philosophy, or creative writing, or art.

Me that’s a good point gotta support the arts

D amen haha

Me haha

Me ok so moving on um Rutgers um sorry, where there any pressures of your loan burdenthat wereaffecting your school work while attending Rutgers wasthat fear ever driving any of your school work?

D uhhhmm mmm uhmmm yea

Me was it affecting if you

D not exactly but there I wanna say my first year a year and a half there was a class or two I wouldn’t do   so well in and it would affect me like alomstas a personal failure more than anything but then I started to realize that I am paying for this myself and im taking out loans to fail is not a good feeling it seems like wastes of thousands of dollars. So I decided to take on more responsibility and accountability and it was almost like a kick in the butt and I um hey I gotta perform not only because I wantto do better but because its going to cost me money and its just gonnacost me more if I have to takethe class over

Me ok did um are you finished up at school

D yes

Mewhen did you graduate

D just graduated in jan2014

Me wowwell condradulations

D thank you

Me with what degree

D in public health

Me ok what may I ask are your current living situations, if it starts to get to personal just tell me and il ask different questions

D oh no its ok not a problem, uhh I live still live at homewith my folks

Me did you find a job right out of college

D yea I did I just got hired full time with a company and it’s a real job and it’s the start of  my career with benefits anda salary

Me that’s fantastic

D yea  but its scary

Me so how haveyou adjusted to life after school know that you haveto stasrt paying back your loans

D im ok the job I had just prior to this I kind of would have a little to work with.iwas able to pay back my loans at the minimum

Me may I ask how much were you supposed to pay a month for the minimum

D  uhm sooo with my bachelors and my masters degrtee and mind you my parents paid the last semester but I took out more loans for my masters and I did pay some for my masters so combinded my monthly payments are 1100 imk not sure I just started paying them back its just loans with other expenses it gets kind of costly but to answer your question givin now this kind of bump in salary pay

Me makes it more manageable

D yea definitely so I can pay off and even save a little but definitely can’t spend on like anything.

Me your definitely one of the lucky ones cause you know there a lot of kids out there who can’t find a job out of collegeand have to come up with that loan money one way or another but that’s really good

D thank your I know I am very thankful and greatful for how lucky I have been

Me so do you think your loans and paying back your loans have affected your ability to move out of the house?

D yes I think so

Me is it that you can’t do it or your scared that once your out you might struggle with the transition and new expenses.

D uhm yes I don’t wantto struggle, ive gotten into arguments with my sister about this cause shes older and just got married and bout a house and has some debt but just a fraction of what I had. Cause our parents paid for her schooling but she puts a lot of pressur eon me to move out it seems like she kind of judges mehehehaha

Me well do you think that’s a sibling pressure or a societal pressure to uh

D uhm I think it’s a societal thing, but also my sister is just how she is,shes always, she stressfull to talk to. If society, well, I care what my sister says more so than society but a lot of my peers have tried to move out.i personally have a good relationship with my parents and they aren’t kicking me out haha

Me that’s always good

D I would like to just stay at home for a year or 2 and just pay down this debt as much as I can were I can actually manage rent and other expenses

Me so what does it mean to be a student these days. Do you think that’s the social norm right now to take out lots of loans, go to college, graduate,move back home and pay off the loans? Is that the norm?

D I think a lot of people do that and try to struggle getting a job or find one and its short lived and have to move back in but I think a lot of kids today fall into that cycle.

Me do you know a lot of people that have gone or are going through this cycle? Or still living at home after collegeto save money and pay back olaons?

D yes and yes, I know plenty of people

Me ok uhm has loan debt affected your future aspirations of future normal life patterns likegetting married, buying a house, or having kids? I know it’s a rewally big question that thinks really far down the line but…

D yea uhm mmmm

Me like are those things getting pushed back is what I am getting at

D uhmyea but its not soley because of me so my partner, we have to be kind of in the sameboat, caus ei cant have a baby or a house by myselfso it really is dependant on that other person,so yes, I think if we are aligned and willing to moveon and feasibly  attain those things I don’t see thembeing pushed back that much. I mean it very well could happen but im staying positive

Me have loans givin you..uh have you ever had second thoughts about taking out so many loans to pay for your education?

D well

Me like and regrets or things you would have done differently?

D well I commuted my last two years of undergrade I lived on campus my first two and costs were obviously highe, like a lot higher I think it was worthy that I lived on campus

Me like it was a good social experience?

D yea I met a lot of great people uhm and its ironic I kind of don’t keep in touch with them anymore but I think I learn a bit about myself in terms of how I handle living with and dealing with other people uhm, when you livewith them its different than when you just see them at school

Me yea

D so uhm you know at least my first year I think it was worth it, but my second year I lived with some girls not in the dorms and I think that was interesting I mean I think it was a great experience and a great time and I don’t take that back but from a financial perspective if I could have comuted all 4 years I would have cause I think id be, I don’t know its kind of like apples and oranges to me I wouldn’t trade one thing for the other but I probably would have been more finaiacially stable if I haven’t stayed on campus for two years obviously I want to be in a more better finaicial situation but im over it.

Me ok well thank you for your honesty and your participation I think that’s all I have you were a fantastic interview and want to thank you again

D it was fun thank you too