[Alumni-chat] Re: Alumni-chat Digest, Vol 7, Issue 4

[Pam Olsen]

Bob, thanks for enumerating these realities.  They do make the co-op program
more complicated.  I was always able to pay my way to my job from money
earned waiting tables at the Inn, then supported myself on the job and
earned enough to get me back to school.  On the other hand, on several of my
jobs I "lived in," i.e., in a residential treatment center, a couple of
state hospitals, and a school camp.  That helped a lot.  I never did the New
York for the sake of being in New York thing. I settled for New Jersey, and
going into the city on weekends.  As I recall, there were several live-in
possibilities in those days.  Maybe not many anymore.


> From: alumni-chat-request at w3.antioch.edu
> Reply-To: alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu
> Date: Mon,  3 Sep 2007 16:55:42 -0400 (EDT)
> To: alumni-chat at w3.antioch.edu
> Subject: Alumni-chat Digest, Vol 7, Issue 4
> 
> a) The cost of transportation has made travel to-and-from co-op a challenge
> for the 90% of Antioch students who are on financial aid.
> 
> b) The cost of living in urban centers has increased dramatically, and co-op
> pay is no longer able to cover cost of living in most situations.  While in my
> era we were able to actually save some cash on co-op and return to campus with
> startup money for the academic term, today, on average the co-op experience is
> a double whammy for students.  They pay tuition to be working, and then end up
> paying for the living costs of the job as well.
> 
> c) The cost of living in a safe place is proportionately higher than basic
> costs.  These days I find students in New York living 7 to a 3 bedroom
> apartment, paying $2500-3,000 rent, with attendant transportation costs, but
> residing in a neighborhood that is relatively safe.
> 
> d) Entry level jobs of the sort that used to fill half of the co-op list, have
> been eliminated by computer and internet technology and other automation.
> 
> e) From the X-generation on, (and probably before), students have been seeking
> more than simply entry into the adult world of work; they've been seeking
> "meaningful" work, and many eschew filing and gopher positions in favor of
> work in which they feel they can make a difference.