Y ou would invest in a major pharmaceutical company?' I asked my boyfriend incredulously. He gave me a meek smile and a shrug as he said, 'Yeah, I might.'
'But what about how they drag their feet on HIV drugs to African countries? What about the lawsuits they bring against groups that try to market generic drugs? And what about that crap with Glaxo SmithKline testing HIV drugs on little kids in Harlem?'
'Bridget, I would never invest in a company that did stuff like that. Of course I wouldn"t, you know that,' he said adamantly.
To his credit, my boyfriend has taught me a lot about money and investing. While I did give him a hard time for reading Black Enterprise and teased him about CNN Money being his start page, I now understand just how revolutionary it is for people of color, women and other disadvantaged groups to control their financial future. The challenge is balancing this need for financial stability with a social conscience. Unfortunately, achieving this balance is difficult for low-income college students, especially when they face crushing debt burdens.
I knew that UBS, Boston Consulting Group and Wachovia weren"t for me, but the prospect of fat paychecks and enticing sign-on bonuses compelled me to attend their information sessions and grit my teeth through their interviews. At the information session for UBS, the presenter told a room full of enthusiastic Duke seniors that our job would be to help 'wealthy and ultra-wealthy individuals grow, maintain and transfer their wealth.' My boyfriend and I exchanged smiles as the other attendees listened with rapt attention. It was disappointing to see firsthand just how coveted such positions are for many Duke students. I"m not saying that people from UBS were evil capitalist money grubbers--in fact, all of them seemed to be quite normal, caring individuals. But I do think that most of them and the majority of students in that room didn"t reflect on what it really means to devote yourself to the goal of keeping the ultra-wealthy (and subsequent generations) loaded with cash and lucrative investments.
While I think it's dangerous to base employment decisions solely upon money, I understand the allure of high-profile jobs. My whole Duke career has been centered around learning for its own sake, but suddenly last semester I found myself viewing my degree as just a piece of paper to cash in. I lost track of some of the activities and goals that always made so much sense to me--social justice work, my honors thesis and 'making the world a better place.' I questioned my past course choices and I looked with some envy upon the hordes of economics majors I met at information sessions and interviews. 'Why didn"t I choose a more realistic major?' I asked myself. 'Why didn"t I intern at a financial firm?' And, as I struggled at my Boston Consulting Group interview, 'Why didn"t I take a few economic courses?'
Luckily, I have a mother who always helps me to keep things in perspective. As a single parent without a college degree, she's had to work hard to support me. But she"s always encouraged me to do what I love and learn as much as I can at Duke, even if it doesn"t directly translate into paycheck dollars. After talking with other students, I am thankful that I never had any pressure on me to do certain things or take a particular path in life. I did what I loved in high school, this passion helped get me into Duke where I also lived my dreams, and I see no reason for this to change anytime soon.
I know that right now, I and many other seniors are trying to decide what we want to do next year. I am extremely fortunate to be considering joining Teach for America as a middle school social studies teacher in Camden, N.J., as well as becoming a legal assistant with a law firm in New York. I"m still not sure exactly which one I will ultimately choose, but I am definitely leaning toward teaching. Sometimes, I wonder if a teacher made a financial advisor"s salary and those on Wall Street earned teacher salaries, how many Duke students would still be so excited about maintaining the status of the ultra-wealthy?
Despite his interest in real estate and the business world, my boyfriend is considering working as a teacher next year as well. He has been offered a position at a charter school in New York close to where he grew up as a kid. And he has decided he couldn"t invest his money in a big pharmaceutical company, nor could he invest his life in something he didn't believe in.
'I mean, how else could we have such a huge impact both on ourselves and the lives of others?' I asked as we sat in the moonlight on a Chapel bench and considered our future as teachers. I was posing that question to myself as much as I was directing it at him.
Bridget Newman is a Trinity senior. Her column appears every other Thursday.
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