College grads struggle to find work in economic crisis

The smell of freshly cut grass alleviates all tension built up on the day many see as an end, a beginning, or a new chapter to read.

Mortarboards gleam in the sunlit sky while the multi-colored tassels bounce with each gleeful step the hundreds of college graduates take. It will be a memorable day, but not for the reasons one might think.

Take Yvette Hodges, for instance. She is a mother of two and just achieved her dream of graduating with an English degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. She is 27 years old, has her teaching certificate but cannot find work to support her family of three.

"Times are rough. I can't tell you a morning I have woken up and not felt the shakes of stress," Hodges said. " I'm not one to feel sorry for myself, but I feel sorry for my kids. Hell, I feel bad for America as a whole."

With her goal achieved, her diploma proved to be a perfect wall mount, but not much more.

She currently waits tables at Cracker Barrel.

Matt Parker, a 28-year-old graduate from the University of North Texas, with a master's in computer science, is also struggling to find work related to his field.

Every morning he fires up his 1992 Geo Metro, leaves his parents' house, hopes the air conditioning works and drives six miles from Coppell to seek potential employment through a staffing agency in Lewisville.

Then, he waits in line. The agency allows interested people to wait by its doors at 7 a.m. The first three people by the door get temporary work at local warehouses refurbishing plants and mailrooms. Since graduating in May, he has not found a job or landed an interview.

"It's eat or be eaten, and so far I've been eaten several times. I can't catch a break out here. This is the worst thing I have ever experienced," Parker said."I'd kill to even work at McDonald's. What gives?"

Students at the junior college level have had their share of fears, as well.

Christina Perez, a 20-year-old El Paso native and current Richland student, is paying tuition out of her own pocket.

"Of course I'm worried about my future. I'm about to finish my associate degree and if I don't get accepted to TWU, I'm finished," Perez said.

Perez, who said her older sister did not go to college and works at a Waffle House back home in El Paso, is worried she might have to give up her goal.

"I can't afford tuition at the bigger colleges and if my GPA doesn't impress them, then like I said, I'm finished,"she said.

College graduates at the associate, bachelor's and master's levels all have faced the possibility of unemployment upon graduation. Many students, post-graduation, have moved back in with their parents, as with Parker. Many are working jobs that either don't require a degree or have nothing to do with their field.

According to the National Association for Law Placement's "Employment Report and Salary Survey" issued in June 2011, the employment rate for law school graduates currently rests at 87.6 percent, the lowest it has been since 1996. Prior to the Great Recession in 2007, the employment rate reached 91.9 percent, a 20-year record high.

With national unemployment at 9.1 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, where does that leave graduates in 2011-2013?

The students arguably take one of the worst forms of punishment this economy can create.