You've graduated... now what?

By Laila Muhammad | Last updated: Jun 18, 2014 - 8:06:26 AM

“It makes little difference how many university courses or degrees a person may own. If he cannot use words to move an idea from one point to another, his education is incomplete.” ~Norman Cousins

My daughter recently graduated from kindergarten; she attends an African-centered school, and they have a rites of passage ceremony, a ceremony performed to facilitate or mark a person’s change of status upon any of several highly important occasions, as at the onset of puberty or upon entry into marriage or into a clan. Any important act or event that serves to mark a passage from one stage of life to another. During the ceremony the children give libations, perform African dance, drumming, and honor their Ancestors, teachers, and students who came before them. Watching 50 children sing the entire Black National Anthem was overwhelming.

As a child I never even learned the second verse (Smile).

The leader of the “village” explained to the community that unlike traditional schools, where they hand you a report card at the end of the year and tell you to report to your new teacher in the fall, this village/school children has already met their next teachers. They were already given a list of what to expect from teachers and what was expected of them. They understand everyone is interconnected to the whole community. Parent involvement is a must, and their education continues outside of the classroom and over the summer break.

The most fascinating thing to me was that 50 children stood on stage and confidently recited a promise to spend their money in their own communities, buy Black, give back to the community, and build jobs for Black people. Now that’s education!

The end of the school year is approaching for most people, we have children graduating from different levels of schooling, some moving into higher education, and others moving into the workforce, but are they prepared?

Are you as a parent prepared? Have you equipped them with the necessary tools to make it in this world?

Well if you’re a recent college graduate chances are that you have fallen into the pool of those who owe over $1.2 trillion dollars in college debt. I will give you a second to think about how many zeroes that is. Can you picture it? You probably got lost after 9 zero’s, a trillion is actually 12 zero’s. Go ahead and soak it all in. You may be asking, what does that have to do with me? Well I will tell you. Student loan debt is a part of the federal debt, and we all know that we are in a huge deficit; America owes practically everybody because we import all of our goods, and rarely exports anything. We are a consumer nation. Pretty soon China will be calling in payments due, then what?

When grads default on repaying student loans to Aunt Sallie, who is then responsible? You guessed it, the taxpayer, who will bear the burden in the long run. The consequences of student loan debt mean slower economic growth which equals slower job creation and interest rates soaring. So in the end, you’re going into debt trying to get out of the rat race.

How many students borrow and have borrowed for college?

According to the American Student Assistance website and the Institute for College Access and Success Project on Student Debt, the average borrower will graduate $26,600 in the red.

•Nearly 20 million Americans attend college each year.

•Of that 20 million, close to 12 million people, 60 percent of attendees, borrow annually to help cover costs.

• There are approximately 37 million student loan borrowers with outstanding student loans today.

• As of the first Quarter of 2012, the under 30 age group has the most borrowers at 14 million, followed by 10.6 million for the 30-39 group, 5.7 million in the 40-49 category, 4.6 million in the 50-59 age group and the over 60 category with the least number of borrowers at 2.2 million for an overall total of 37.1 million.

In an article titled “Farrakhan: Proper education promotes problem solving, not just making money.” The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, speaking at Olive-Harvey College, said “The problem starts with education and the problem will end with the proper education.”

“It is not enough to have an education, but we must have the right education, the proper education that allows the one who is educated to use his gifts, skills and talents to solve the problems of his or her time.”

The Minister said educators and students must work to bring into reality “God’s view and God’s vision for the future. That future cannot happen in a vacuum, it is going to take human beings of knowledge to bring about a circumstance that destroys bitterness and hatred between different racial and ethnic groups. That is a tremendous undertaking and the quality of education that we have received thus far is insufficient to qualify us for that task.”

Now that you have graduated, take some time to plan out your future. Look at your financial situation, and figure out how you will pay for your education or come up with alternatives to do so.

I pray that you find your purpose in life and that it helps to benefit the Black Nation. May Allah (God) bless you to make the right choices that will allow you to secure a future for yourself and your family.

(Laila Muhammad is a Final Call production assistant, writer, and videographer based in Chicago. Follow her @liberatedvoice.blogspot.com, to purchase her paperback or eBook “Coffee makes you Black…so pour me some more,” go to http://www.lailamuhammad1.wordpress.com

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