“The sad thing is, with the country the way it is now, we won’t even feel homesick.”
14ymedio, Julio César Contreras, Cienfuegos, July 24, 2024 — Amelia’s diploma from the Cienfuegos School of Medical Sciences has been hanging in her living room for exactly three years. That is about how long she has known that this was not a degree she would be using. Like many of her classmates, the 26-year-old fulfilled her social service obligations after graduation and now works as a waitress in a privately owned restaurant.
“All the while I was studying, I thought that a degree — even with all the problems like the teacher shortage and the outdated subject matter — would lead to a better future. But as soon as entered the real world, I was disappointed,” Amelia explains. At the end of her sixth year, her academic credentials should have landed her in one of the top spots for job placement. However, because of so-called “comprehensiveness” considerations — these take into account overall student performance, including participation in political events — many classmates with lower grades ended up with better jobs.
“I did manage, just barely, to land a job at the provincial hospital but ultimately I couldn’t handle the 24-hour shifts. Conditions were such that I had trouble eating, sleeping and bathing,” she recalls. Her salary was also not what she had expected. “I got the basic 4,200 pesos plus a little extra for working at night. The most I earned in one month was 7,000 pesos but it lasted only 15 days and I was exhausted from the daily grind. I’m not passionate about what I’m doing now but I earn almost twice as much,” she says.
Amelia earns 500 pesos a day working at a restaurant six days a week from 8:30 AM till 4:30 PM
Amelia earns 500 pesos a day working at a r
