“A Strong Woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” – Gina Carey
Last week I introduced you to Matt Fizell and promised more to come about Becky Partridge as well. Becky started with us in April as an intern while she was finishing up her degree in Financial Planning from Alfred State. We sure are glad she picked us and we are super excited that she has agreed to stay with us beyond her internship!
A little bit about Becky
From the time I was a child I knew I wanted a career in business. I’ve grown up in the business environment and have always loved it. As a kid I would occasionally go to work with my father, who owns his own business, and would always pretend to work for him.
In high school I took every business class that was offered and fell in love with accounting. After high school, I initially enrolled in the business administration program at Alfred State College. A year into the program I was directed to the financial planning program and instantly knew that was the right choice. Financial planning is a perfect fit for me, as I can work with numbers and help people achieve their financial goals at the same time. I’m excited to continue my education and become a planner in the future.
I graduated from SUNY Alfred State College in May of 2018, with a bachelor's degree of business administration in financial planning. I received the honor designation of summa cum laude. In my last semester at Alfred, I was an intern at Irvine Wealth Planning Strategies and was fortunate enough to be offered a job after graduation.
I also interned at Alsheimer & Evarts Tax Accounting, where I continue to work part time.
In my spare time I enjoy running, camping and bowling. I currently serve on the board for the Hornell United States Bowling Congress Association as the manager.
Please join me in officially welcoming Becky to the “clan;” she can be reached at becky@irvineadvise.com.
Now that you know a little about her, here is some great information FROM her:
So, You Just Graduated from College……Now What?
by Becky Partridge
College graduation is a milestone for many people, yet the thought of graduating can be terrifying. The reason many people are terrified to graduate college is because of student loans. It’s easy to take out loans and over the years forget how much is actually being borrowed, especially when you aren’t required to make payments for many years. Then graduation comes around and the loan providers start hounding students about setting up their repayment plans. At that time many students face the realization of exactly how much debt they have gotten themselves into and quickly realize they can’t afford the monthly payments. In response to this realization some students decide to go back to school for an additional “random” degree as a coping mechanism because their loans will go back into a deferment period. While this may seem like an easy escape it really creates a snow ball effect because the student ends up getting deeper and deeper into debt. Not only do they accrue more debt from their principal, but for private and even federal unsubsidized loans interest continues to accrue. These interest rates can be anywhere from 3% - 11%, in some cases even higher. That becomes an astronomical number over time.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics for the 2017-18 school year it is expected that between associates and bachelors degrees there will be approximately 2.9 million graduates. Think about how much student loan debt that equates to. According to Student Loan Hero, the average student acquires $39,400 in student loan debt. The same article stated that the average monthly student loan payment is $351. The Washington Post published an article that gave a very alarming statistic that only 27% of graduates land a job in their major. About another 40% do end up getting a job out of college, it’s just not in the field they went to school for. If such a low percentage of graduates come out of college using their degrees why is there so much pressure for high school graduates to go to college? With the crippling amount of student loan debt this country is in the secondary education system as an entirety needs to be reevaluated. It’s wonderful that so many people do go onto college to further their education but think about how many more would be able to go if they could afford it. For many students the thought of going to college seems nearly impossible because they don’t have the resources, and those students often have to “fight” to make it in life. So many employers require a college degree of some level that leads to many people who can’t afford it to earn a livable income after high school.
Being a recent graduate, this information is all too real. While I was fortunate to end up with a job in my major some of my very close friends are struggling to find jobs in their majors.