(Photo by: Eddie Leonard)
It is well noted that Connecticut does not have the night life of a Miami or New York, and it does not have the history of a Boston or San Francisco. The theme of Connecticut not being able to seduce young Americans has continued to be a problem in the past ten years.
According to Raising Hale the number of students who took jobs in Connecticut after graduation has dropped from 61 percent to 58 percent in the last ten years.
According to Connecticut’s Public Broadcasting Network, Connecticut has lost more young workers than any other state since 1990. The main reasons being the state’s high cost of living, lack of large cities, and lack of jobs for young students.
UConn Junior Sarah Gruber said she is one of the many students who plans on leaving Connecticut upon graduation. The Thornwood, NY native said jobs and family are the two biggest factors when deciding where to start a career.
Gruber is an animal science major who plans on becoming a veterinarian. Connecticut however, does not have veterinarian jobs that are small animal based, so Gruber plans to move back to New York with her family.
Jobs are not the only reason why a lot of young students like Gruber are leaving Connecticut after graduation. Sometimes it can be as simple as family. UConn is a state school, but it still has a lot of out of state students. Gruber said she wants to move back to New York with her family when she pursues her first job.
Gruber concluded by saying that her experience in Connecticut has been limited to Storrs. She said Storrs only has farmland and UConn. She said her experience of living only in Storrs may have helped her form a biased opinion of the state, but she still believes the state is too rural for her liking.