Until about year ago, Patrick Mills was working as a video game designer in Southern California. "It was a dream job," he says, "no question about it." But when he was let go, he needed to find a new dream.
Losing a job is a difficulty many Americans understand. Adding a complicating factor, tough economic times were about to hit California when Patrick lost his job in 2008. "The economy had already started tumbling," he says, "but the massive layoffs and hiring freezes that would hit my so-called recession proof industry were still a few months away." All at once, Patrick went from a comfortable career path to find himself struggling to find a new job in one of the most difficult job markets in recent history.
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Escaping the unemployment loop
Patrick's story is the story of many American workers during the recession; escaping the loop of unemployment without more training. "Finding another job in my field proved difficult, and it's really the only thing I'm trained for that can actually pay the bills in a place like Orange County," he says. With training for one career path, workers like Patrick find it is often difficult to branch out. Hiring managers often either look for specific training in a field or a broad degree, and Patrick was learning that his specialized training was losing value in the highly competitive game design industry.
Frustrated with his options and losing confidence in the local market, Patrick began thinking of opportunities he had turned away from long before. The largest? A college degree. "I had always regretted not finishing my degree," he says. For him, that regret was enough to make the commitment to education again.
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Nationwide push towards higher education
Returning students like Patrick aren't the only ones thinking about the future of education. President Obama recently unveiled a plan to sink $12 billion into the nation's community colleges over the next ten years. "Time and again, when we have placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result -- by tapping the incredible innovative and generative potential of a skilled American workforce," Obama said.
The money will go to overcome state and local budget problems and increase faculty and course load offerings. New construction, online education and competitive grants are also promised. Over the next decade, the Obama administration would like to increase the nation's graduate number by five million. For students like Patrick, the funding promises mean that returning to school could become easier than ever.
Doing the math on unemployment
Moving out of state to return to school in New Mexico was worth the expense for Patrick. He said he did the math and found that it's "actually cheaper to go to school in a cheaper state than to stay in California and likely work deeply underemployed until my industry recovers enough that people start hiring designers with my level of experience again." The choice to pack up and leave was a difficult one, but Patrick understood the long-term advantage of returning with a degree.
Going back to school has real financial benefits. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, workers with an associate degree earned over $7,500 on average in 2008 than those with a high school diploma. Workers like Patrick who had some college but no degree earned about $17,300 less that year alone than those with bachelor's degrees. Over time, the money workers earn with a degree has the potential to have a profound effect on lifelong salary.
Looking to the future with optimism
Unlike students cycling directly into college from high school, adult learners have specific challenges to overcome. Financing an education, making the time to study while working, and family commitments are all common challenges for nontraditional students. Though he remains optimistic, Patrick understands the challenges that await. "Getting back into the system was surprisingly simple," he says, "it's going to be other things that might prove more complicated."
Still, returning to school comes with a feeling of new beginnings. Patrick understands what it means to re-enroll after years away. "Going back to school opens up another avenue for me that I had previously walled off," he says.
Career options broaden, change
Game design isn't the only option for Patrick's future. After seeing the game designer dream job from the inside, he might be ready to move on. "If things go well I might consider sticking around Academia a bit longer and entering a graduate program," he says, "maybe eventually working in a scientific or humanitarian career, the kind of things that I had long wanted to do, but had assumed lost to me when I quit out of the system."
Going back to school means thinking about the dreams that he forgot long ago. He adds: "I love making games, who wouldn't? But I've got other places I'd like to go and other things I'd like to do before I'm worm-food."
Preparing for future success
Patrick looks to the coming years in school with optimism. "I feel really good about the decision at this point," he says. "At the very least I should be able to emerge from this current economic situation in a few years with my degree, as opposed to spending the next few years hopping from job to job, state to state, desperately trying to find a company solvent enough to keep me on for more than a few months at a time."
The decision to go back to school is often a difficult one, but the short-term sacrifice comes with long-term potential benefit. Patrick's decision to return to school added a measure of stability to his life in an unstable economic time.
