For class this week we have to do a writing assignment, an essay that “details all the bad decisions that caused you to get into debt.” I’m having trouble with it, because the more I’ve thought about it, the more I feel duped. I mean, I knew that getting a degree in Philosophy wasn’t going to make employers line up on my doormat, but I thought that I’d be able to find something that would use my skills and interests.

It feels wrong to me that I was even allowed to get a degree in Philosophy with the job market the way it is. The way that they teach us to think about university degrees nowadays is little more than job training – the ancient concept about a true liberal arts education is outdated by alternative information sources like the internet. So why keep silly majors like Philosophy offered at all if for no other reason than to lure unsuspecting undergrads with a predisposition for head-in-the-clouds thought into crushing debt? It seems disingenuous that the branch of human knowledge that elevated humanity and brought us up out of the darkness of ignorance is relegated now to nothing more than a recipe for debt slavery.

Of course, I can’t write any of that sort of thing into my essay – I’d instantly be sent to Nurse Gunderson for another triple dose. But it’s tough to lie. I’m so glad I have this extra record. I don’t know what I would do without it.