"There's no shame for me in surviving these last few weeks up till graduate school, becoming a part of less privileged. I'm poor and I'm quite humble about all of it, though there is some sort of statement to be made about a recent UNCG graduate with honors and a double minor, not being able to find a summer job in Greensboro.
Shannon, who is also an UNCG student recently participated in a round-table discussion on why local students do not remain in Greensboro after graduation this past spring. The result of these inquiries was that there are no jobs for college graduates. While attending UNCG it was commonly known, and repeated by the entire student body, that "you go to school in Greensboro, and work somewhere else". I have a degree in International Global Studies in Affairs and Development, exactly where would I work in Greensboro and make a livable wage? 17K a year working for a proselytizing ministry is not my idea of a rewarding career or a livable wage.
Considering my background, I found it interesting as I stood in line for 3-4 hours in the baking sun that the demographic of people with me was mostly minorities. I was one of about ten white people out of 200 waiting. I felt saddened by this, my gut ached, and my head confused how inequality runs rampant in Greensboro (it may have been the heat). The unemployment rate for the area is 9.4% (as of June 2013, down from a recent 12%), the homeless rate is 14% (student homelessness is up 48%) [via The State of Homelessness in America] . If you don't keep track of these indicators on a regular basis, let me assure you, that these numbers are high, very high. Despite these numbers, I can assure you that you need to only stand in one of these massively long lines for food to realize how bad the problem is." Please continue reading...
