Topic: Social Work

Michelle Gibson details her decision to join the U.S. Army in 1982 at age 19 to establish her own path away from family obligations. She describes her time stationed in Germany, her struggles with the overweight program, and her eventual graduation from basic training. Following her service, she utilized the Veterans Educational Assistance Program to earn a degree in social work and psychology.

A personal anecdote describes the intense social pressure placed on 18-year-olds to acquire massive student loans for degrees they may never use. The speaker reflects on feeling like a "loser" for questioning the necessity of college while finding more value in independent reading than in formal lectures. They highlight the irony of the current economy where many graduates work jobs unrelated to their expensive fields of study.