29F, I’ve been supporting myself since I turned 18 and got thrown out of the house for standing up to my dad.
I managed to finish my final months of high school and graduate from my aunt’s couch but I went straight into the working force, deciding I had very few options with no guidance.
I have worked at least 40 hours a week since 2012, very rarely was I unemployed for long periods of time and often I had two jobs at once just to pay the bills and have small necessities in life. Yet at this point I can’t afford an apartment with a stove or a kitchen sink. My car was once my freedom but now the payment and insurance is a necessary evil to get me to and from a job to pay for said car and housing.
I felt like I was finally ready to earn a degree and increase my chances of working a job that paid me a living wage where I could at afford to move into a place with roommates and a kitchen sink and stove… but today I was hit with the reality that I will be working a full time job just to keep that roof over my head and car in my possession so I can drive too and from work and campus and home. Even with grants, or if I receive scholarships, I will still need to pay to survive. And it makes me more bitter and angry every time I clock in to this “entry level” desk job.
This country is fucked.