Senior year of high school is a time when opportunities begin flying open for students. They’re choosing colleges or trade schools, preparing to enter the work force or signing up for the military. They’re beginning to prepare for life outside of the school walls they’ve known their entire lives. 

As they start their journey into a new stage of life, many students undertake new responsibilities that accompany the excitement of growing older and more independent. Financial burdens especially – whether it’s tuition, books, car payments, insurance, bills or some other cost – take a heavy toll and are often a rude awakening to the “real” world. 

And yet, I always saw it as doable. I’ve spoken with countless family members, older friends and teachers about how they managed the demands of college, the workforce and building a life for themselves, and each of them has echoed the same sentiment: “It’s rough at times, and some have it worse than others, but I got through it and so will you.”

It’s always been a comfort to know that I’m going to be following in the footsteps of so many others and can expect similar success. 

Or at least, that’s what I used to think. Now I’m not so sure. 

Let’s start with college, a path myself and many of my peers will follow in the coming years. Most of the people in my family have a college education, and all of them were able to pay for it with some degree of success. My mother had to take out student loans for law school, but those who went no further than their bachelors faced much less debt, if any, after they graduated. 

I understand that the value of money changes over time, and inflation plays a significant role in that, so I was never surprised by the idea that college was more expensive in the present day, when minimum wage and average salaries are higher than when my parents and family were in college. 

And yet, I find it absolutely ridiculous that, according to NPR, tuition for public and private schools has doubled in the last 30 years. I find it ridiculous that some schools are charging tens of thousands of dollars just for a bachelor’s degree, and students and families are expected to pay these exorbitant amounts to afford something that our society has deemed “necessary” for so many careers. 

Let’s take a look at the job market, where some of my peers are headed. Every career has a fluctuating demand for applicants based on the economy, political landscape and current technology, and I know that everyone has to consider that when looking for a job, regardless of year.

But I don’t have much hope of finding a job that will pay more than McDonald’s when AI is replacing workers and layoffs are at their highest rate since the pandemic, according to an article from CNBC. 

An article from Nexford University says that AI could potentially replace up to 300 million full-time jobs by 2030 if it continues growing at its current rate. This doesn’t give me much faith in the success of my future job search. 

The housing market isn’t looking good for my generation either. Even though I’m still many years away from being able to even think about buying a house, I’ve still been curious about what the market looks like and what my chances of being able to afford one could be. Lo and behold, they’re not great. 

According to the Harmony Realty Group’s website, the biggest sources of the issue are that fewer houses are being built on average than in previous years and that some homeowners don’t want to sell their houses because of mortgage rates. 

“For 14 straight years, builders didn’t construct enough homes to meet the historical average,” the website said. “That underbuilding created a significant inventory deficit.”

This statistic doesn’t give me much hope that I’ll be one of the lucky few able to snag a house in the coming years.

And don’t even get me started on inflation. It’s become a buzzword thrown around to spark reactions from people, but the reality is that most prices are increasing faster than salaries or minimum wage. Gas may not be as expensive as it was during the height of the pandemic, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to buy groceries after I graduate from college.

Being a senior in high school with new opportunities and upcoming adventures doesn’t mean much to me if I have no guarantee of ever being able to move out of my parents’ basement. I don’t know what kind of world I’ll be stepping into once I graduate college, but I can only hope it looks brighter than the one I envision.