Working harder and smarter but just scraping by...

I just got paid from my school job and am continually blown away how low the pay is. We are paid on contract so everything is taken out... IPERS, Social Security, insurance, and the regular taxes. Usually that ends up being about a quarter of my pay. The school district assumes that people working associate jobs are in two income homes. Sometimes, I feel that they should make this job on a volunteer basis only if they are not going to pay us respectfully.

I got this job for two or three major reasons:

1. Insurance.

2. Experience. That covers getting myself out of the restaurant business and getting myself into graduate school.

However, at what sacrifice?

At the sacrifice of getting into huge financial debt? Associates have cars to pay for, student loans to pay down, and lives to continue living. My father told me that minimum wage is too high. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that. He must be considering minimum wage out of the context of standard of living and the economy today. He told me that in Mexico that lower wage workers learn to live without some of the modern so-called necessities. So I started riding my bike to work as well... At the same time I'm trying to reach for a higher bracket on the "social/economical caste system" by taking classes to get into a specific field (something someone should have told me about a long time ago). I've got to say.. I don't even have the added element of a family to rear, and this kind of life is EXHAUSTING... I work up to three jobs a week, basically being exploited for my hard work at every one of them, and study and try to lead a normal life with friends and a boyfriend... I feel ready to collapse at the end of the night. Is this normal? Is this life and I'm not up to the challenge? Kent also works like this. He also takes pride in his work and works to his own high standards. He too suffers exhaustion resulting in frustration and at times, anxiety and depression.

This topic really leads me into a whole other ball of wax... Somethings I shouldn't get into probably ever if not just for the moment. But I will say that the education system is starting to be more capitalistic than it is educational. The human brain doesn't stop developing until sometime in early college. Therefore, it needs routine, guidance and role modeling to shape one into a productive and life-ready person. Where are these models for the average student in a university of about 28,000?

A lot for the mind to chew on... Sorry looks like payday is going to turn into "rant" day.