I wish them all success in obtaining their college degrees!

I feel this generation will replace my parents generation who lived through the last depression.
This is the beginning of a new no spend, Americans.

While I wish all the students best of success in obtaining their degrees and throughout their life, I find it interesting that the story's title focuses on 'uncertain future'. Isn't the future 'uncertain' and unknown for all of us? Whether a person graduates in boom times or more challenging, the future is uncertain. This is what makes it so important to become educated, to be willing to find opportunities that demonstrate your value to an organization or, in the case of those wishing to build their own companies, to demonstrate value to their clients or customers. Whether the economy is good or poor, there is uncertainty in every part of our lives--there is no way government or even individuals can guard against unknowns or guarantee no rough times--it's inherent for each person to understand this, prepare themselves to be flexible, adaptable, determined and commit to persevere in the face of the tough times. And, to keep a perspective during the good times always preparing for the certainty of uncertainty.

Thank you for recognizing students from several of our local schools. They all have their own unique stories.

Very interesting, I wish the best for them! The only problem I had with this article was a side-note of Howe's analysis. Most of it I agreed with, except when he says that the Millenials are the children of Gen. X. Since when was that the case? I'm only 20, I thought I was considered a milleniaal (most people born in the 80's were I thought), but anyone I ever knew who was born from the early 80's to about the mid 1990's had Boomers for parents. That makes his entire analysis make more sense if her considered it that way. I always thought it was the excess and prosperity in the Boomer generation that had the direct affect on my generation. The Gen X's kids are still in elementary school, maybe junior high, (unless a gen x was really young when they had thewir first kid). But I do agree with the entire article.

Interesting story, and I wish them the best. But I find most of them quite alike in most regards. For example, I'm surprised none of the students chosen for this story/project are planning to go into the military. There are plenty out there, so why not have a spectrum of the story on a student who has chosen that path?

Over my professional career I've recruited people for engineering careers, and served as a mentor to high school students. The single most important message I try to give out is don't pin your college dreams on getting a full ride athletic scholarship. Three of the five students here mention this. Grades matter, ACT and SAT scores matter, hard work matters. But, nothing is guaranteed. The local D-I school where i live brings in 450-500 young men for their yearly football camp. At the end, only 4-8 get a second look. Finally, the young people of this country will rise to the challenge, and best of luck.

Over my professional career I've recruited people for engineering careers, and served as a mentor to high school students. The single most important message I try to give out is don't pin your college dreams on getting a full ride athletic scholarship. Three of the five students here mention this. Grades matter, ACT and SAT scores matter, hard work matters. But, nothing is guaranteed. The local D-I school where i live brings in 450-500 young men for their yearly football camp. At the end, only 4-8 get a second look. Finally, the young people of this country will rise to the challenge, and best of luck.

I really do wish the best to the young graduates of 2009. I am graduating from ITT Tech on June 12th with an Associates degree in Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology. I spent 5 months trying to find any job after getting discharged from the military. I worked hard and kept putting out the resumes and now I have a job as Electronics Manager. The people that don't fail, don't give up.

With globalization and the ability for your job to be out-sourced at the click of a screen, coupled with what some call "undocumented workers" or others call "illegal aliens" (not immigrants - because "immigrant" implies legality) and the coming Greatest Depression, going to college should only be used for business, egineering, and other highly-specialized fields. Going to school for history, geography, english - all these liberal arts degrees are worthless. People, including myself who earned a bachelors degree in history has provided me with a lot of student loans, but no employer wanting to offer me a job because I have no "real-skills" to offer. Yet, these colleges, just like any other lying, deceiving corporation, pump you up with all these "opportunities" which they say you can pursue - either with that degree only or even more education & student loans. Therefore, you either have to not work, go to school and take out gads more student loans, then you might be able to get a job. Yet, with globalization, outsourcing, the "new-labor source" coming from our southern border & automation taking away all of our jobs, there are going to be less and less jobs for more and more graduates. It's awfully promising for all of you new graduates who have no experience in your field or no "real skills" to offer, you're on your own and now you will all soon have to repay your student loans if you were "lucky" to have had the opportunity to go to college.

I wish them all the best in life. A little advise...go for a degree in nursing and you will have your choice of jobs when your done!!!

All these young men and women will undoubtedly face difficult prospects in financing their educations, but one important alternative has not been mentioned. Junior colleges provide excellent preparation for university-based educations, are far cheaper, and allow young students time to more thoughtfully decide on a career path. While I originally graduated from U.C. Berkeley, a change in careers forced me to return to junior college to complete prerequisites for a career in nursing. While the dwindling levels of federal and state grant funding are evident of our short-sightedness as a nation, many students make it through college taking out loans. This ma not be the ideal funding strategy, these young men and women may have to learn early on about the cost-benefit analysis of becoming educated and competitive in our evolving economic times. We all wish them luck.

Enough of the Elkhart syndrome, there are similar situations all across this country and the media as usual burns everyone out day in and day out about Elkhart...........

Thats all fine and dandy but i beleive the economy is worse where i live, in the horrible state of Nevada the phone lines to the unemployment office are busy all day and even at night. There are no empl,oyers out there looking to hire even people who are over qualified for fast food resteraunts jobs! try living here!!!!! If the money i was making at my joke of a job was better than i would be more than happy to take my fiance and my mother to another state where the economy is much better! Or maybe i should just leave the country because it was the last president who messed it up for everybody!

I was born in 1948 am now 61 I seem a lot of change cents then it is harder now to get a job now then it was when i was growing up my frist job was in fast foods making only 195 a hour all thought wages better now then they were when I was growing up all these men and woman who are getting fancy drgree are finding out that the jobs are not out there for then to have so they reture to school and go deeper in deat just to find a C then can get a job in.