I finally did it!After nearly eight years of monthly payments, I finally paid-off my student loan.
And as I look back on my days as a college student, I wonder whether or not things would have turned-out differently had there not been a government student loan program made available to me? And I wonder if I would have even pursued post-secondary education had I been brought-up in a different socio-economic class?
It's a humbling experience when you realize that the decisions you make in life are actually shaped by not only the society you live in, but also by your ethnicity, your parents, and even the country you live in.
After taking a closer look, I've come to realize that attending college wasn't simply a matter of personal choice.
According to a Government of Canada report titled, Participation in Postsecondary Education: Graduates, Continuers and Drop Outs, Results from Youth In Transition Survey Cycle 4, factors such as age, gender, family structure, high school marks, geography and even race, can play a role in determining the likelihood of someone attending and completing, a post-secondary program.
The survey (conducted by Statistics Canada and HRSDC) collected information from a sample of Canadians aged 18 to 20 in 2000. They were then interviewed over a period of six years on education and employment experiences as well as on their personal characteristics and educational aspirations.
The results indicated that there are a wide variety of factors and characteristics that distinguished youth who pursued post-secondary education from those who didn't.
And one of them is age.
For as long as I can remember, I've always had an expectation that I would pursue post-secondary studies. But it wasn't until I was 25 years old, that I became a college student. Up until then, I had worked full-time supporting myself while volunteering at the local TV station. Thinking back, I don't think I would have made-it through college had I enrolled right after high school. There was too much "drama" in my life at the time, and even though I had taken courses at a local post-secondary institution, being a full-time student was the furthest thing from my mind back then.
While I was attending college, I felt like an "old man" because I grew-up with the belief that one ought to pursue post-secondary education immediately after high school. But surprisingly in the survey, the proportion of youth who participated in post-secondary education increased as they got older.
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| Credit: pisa.gc.ca |
According to the survey, in December 1999 when the participants were 18 to 20 years old, many of them were still attending high school. 54% of the youth had already attended post-secondary education, and over the next six years, the participation rate increased steadily to reach almost 80% in December 2005.
Recalling the faces of my fellow classmates, I remember that very few of them had entered the program directly from high school. The majority had either completed a post-secondary program and decided to switch career paths or like me, had decided to gain some life experiences prior to enrolling.
Whatever the reason, it was nice to know that I wasn't the only "mature" student enrolled in the program.
While the survey doesn't go into the reasons behinds the results, it does summarize a number of interesting findings such as:
Student loans were a popular method of financing post-secondary education for students. Nearly six-out-of-ten of those with completed post-secondary education or those studying reported student loans.
And
Visible minority youth were more likely to participate in post-secondary education, especially in university.
Being a Canadian of Korean descent, I can remember as a child, my grandmother telling me constantly, "Do lots of homework! Do well in school!". Scholastic achievement is part and parcel of the Korean culture and maybe that's the reason why I've always had this expectation that I would pursue a post-secondary education.Looking back on my decision to attend college, I can't really say that it was based on any one particular reason. The desire to pursue a career and to fulfill an important life goal were definitely key motivators behind my decision.
But if it weren't for the availability of student loans, and the fact that I was living in a large urban centre with multiple post-secondary institutions, I know that I wouldn't have been able to pursue a post-secondary education.
And so many of those experiences that I've had since my graduation, that I can tie either directly or indirectly to my post-secondary education, would have never come to pass.
A most humbling thought indeed.
