Reflecting on the millennial experience ...

FRIENDSHIP IN THE AGE OF LONELINESS by Adam Smiley Poswolsky is described as “An Optimist's Guide to Connection” and it seemed appropriate to consider given the upcoming return to school and many attempts to strengthen connections and community. Poswolsky, a motivational speaker on the millennial workplace, shares insights about friendship rituals, developing intergenerational friends, and basically just reaching out. In fact, the various sections of his text summarize his main points: be more playful; be a better friend (less judgmental and more accepting); invest in friendship (e.g., go deep rather than wide); stay in touch; embrace ritual; and be a minister for loneliness in your community. All of this seems particularly poignant given concerns about teens and smartphones such as those described in this Guardian article (and mentioned in previous posts). Poswolsky provides links to book discussion questions, to a ritual library (filled with ideas for meet-ups and contacts), and to a complete resources guide; I wonder if he will consider adding some teen specific ideas in the future? As writers like Lisa Damour or those at New Harbinger point out, teens are in a unique place and will need our support more than ever. If you have other sources to suggest, please do.  

A related text, CAN'T EVEN: HOW MILLENNIALS BECAME THE BURNOUT GENERATION by Anne Helen Petersen, was published late last year and received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus. Petersen profiles millennials (aged roughly 24 to 39), but focuses more on their economic issues – expressing grave concerns about work life balance, wages, and achieving the American Dream. She argues that the burnout is “about a work ethic and anxiety and exhaustion particular to the world I grew up in” (pressures for applying to college, getting a job, living through the Great Recession, etc.). Then referring to the pandemic’s impact, she “invites readers to think of every argument, every anecdote, every call for change, as amplified and emboldened.” Sections of the text deal with finances like student debt or the high cost of housing and childcare, a myriad of work issues, and parenting concerns. The tone is upbeat and action-oriented as Petersen advocates for finding that “irrefutable pivot point…, a different way of thinking about work, and personal value, and profit incentives.”  

The Debt Trap by Josh Mitchell

THE DEBT TRAP by Josh Mitchell provides significant historical perspective on “How Student Loans Became a National Catastrophe.” Concerns about debt levels are certainly in the news: Mitchell, an award-winning reporter for The Wall Street Journal, co-authored a front page story this week about law school debt and wrote another recent article about the former chief executive of Sallie Mae. In his new book, Mitchell traces the government’s involvement in student loans from the G.I. Bill to more recent times. He points out that “average tuition and room and board at four-year private colleges has risen nearly 800 percent since 1980, more than five times the rate of inflation.” Acknowledging that well-intentioned actions often have consequences, Mitchell advocates for reforms like forgiving interest on student loans, making four-year colleges put up their own money, and making community college truly free. Since this is more policy-based than guidance for individuals, the text seems a bit complex for our students, although those researching the topic will benefit from Mitchell’s notes and bibliography.

Making College Pay by Beth Akers

MAKING COLLEGE PAY by Beth Akers is a recently released text in which “An Economist Explains How to Make a Smart Bet on Higher Education.” Akers who has co-authored Game of Loans is currently a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Early in the text, she notes that “the extra earnings afforded by a college degree tend to far outweigh the up-front cost.” However, she goes on to argue that “our culture tends to discourage aspiring students from being appropriately critical consumers when shopping for colleges.” Akers focuses on the idea that using an economic lens (weighing potential benefits versus costs) will help students and their families make better financial decisions involving both where to go and how to pay for college. She includes graphs and charts, especially quoting work done at The Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. That data, with a range of projected earnings by major, will be especially helpful to many of our business and consumer classes who regularly are tasked with assuming they have completed undergraduate school and then establishing a budget and expenses outline. Those concepts (rent, groceries, or cell phones cost how much?) are truly new to many of them. Akers includes an entire chapter titled “Loans: the Smart Way to Pay” which may also offer some ideas new to students and parents, particularly with her comments about how working part-time while enrolled might set students back financially and/or why it’s often best to borrow, even if the need is not there. An Appendix with useful links and resources, plus notes (just under ten percent of the text) are included in this very practical, if sometimes dry, guide.