Why?

I have the job that I have because I was desperate to get into Boston. I love my parents, but I just had to get out on my own again. So I caved and took a retail position that I am totally overqualified for. Now that I've gotten my yearly raise, I make a whole dollar over Massachusetts minimum wage. Next year, if I'm good, I might be in line for another whole quarter per hour raise.

Now, once I was in Boston (or thereabouts) I figured I'd find another job that was a little more along the lines of my general talents and abilities. Unfortunately, that was the exact moment at which the economy took a nose dive. The fifty or so Craigslist ads per day which I had been perusing in New Hampshire went down to three. Businesses closed, companies conducted layoffs, and everyone (even in my ridiculously profitable industry) went around whispering "Recession!" as if it were some sort of charm.

Not only that, but I had the brilliant idea that I would go back to school to escape this nightmare of an employment future. When I told my bosses that I would need to go down to part-time, they recommended I just cut back to 30 hours so I could keep my benefits and it would be less likely that I would be seen as some fat to trim when the budget got tight. Okay, makes sense, so I stupidly agreed.

Fast forward four months. I have just a week and half to finish and revise a 10-page research paper for one class and create from scratch a final project for another. I also have to make up for some time I needed last week for the aforementioned paper which I took out of my regular work schedule. So, I'm working 36 hours this week (and dodging guilt trips at work for not offering more of my time during their busiest season) and I will not be able to get everything finished. 

I would lament that I should have simply gone down to part-time anyway, but the only other part-timer in my department has already been let go, so that probably would have ended badly. I would have simply gotten another job, but I don't have the time to even look, let alone interview. 

What am I supposed to do? Why is it that this country does not believe in investing in the future of its workforce? Why wasn't I born in Sweden so I could go to school for free and with government help for room and board? Why is it that the suffering I experienced this semester has to be drawn out into the decades it's going to take me to pay off my loans?

What the hell, man?