Last week, author Barbara Ehrenreich gave a chilling address to Haverford College's class of 2007. She told the graduates, "At the moment you accept your diploma today, you will have an average debt of $20,000 and no health insurance. You may be feeling desperate enough to take whatever comes along. Some of you will get caged in cubicles until you're ejected by the next wave of layoffs."

She continued, "Others, some of the best and brightest of you, in fact, will still be behind a counter in Starbucks or Borders three years down the road."

And so, on a day typically marked by tears of pride, inspirational toasts and congratulatory gifts, at least one American college had a somber brush with reality. Her harsh but realistic rant struck some as insulting and diminutive, but others, many of them graduates, found solace in her words. At least one member of the generation ahead of us is willing to take responsibility for the state of the world we inherit.

Year after year, as I see friends graduate from reputable schools and watch all but a select few struggle to find jobs, I can't help but reflect on how horribly my generation has been misled.

Since our first days of grade school, we've been duped, told that if we worked hard in high school and gained acceptance to a good college, the world would be ours. The benchmark for success, and a tacit promise of a comfortable future, came tied to a college degree.

To be clear, the students Mrs. Ehrenreich damned to Starbucks and Borders weren't graduating from community college or a second-rate state school. No, Haverford is one of the country's more respected small liberal arts schools. Almost 90 percent of its students graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, and the median 50 percent of the class of 2010 scored between 1290 and 1500 on their SATs.

It's a common exercise for commencement speakers to ask graduates to look around at their classmates and see "future leaders of America" or "future best-selling authors." As 1.3 million graduates flood the job market this summer and join the workforce of a stagnant economy, it's hard to picture these graduates as anything grander than bartenders or third-shift managers.

A study by the Economic Mobility Project, funded by the Pew Charitable Trust, shows that today, American men in their 30s have a median annual income of roughly $35,000. Thirty years ago, American men in their 30s were making 12.5 percent more, their median annual income closer to $40,000 (after adjusting for inflation).

At Amherst College, graduates were lectured on our nation's similarities to the Roman Empire. The president of the college, Anthony Marx, cautioned, "If we do not learn from the limits of our victories, we risk the fate of Rome." At Middlebury College, Bill Clinton offered, "So yes, there are plenty of problems out there."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's commencement address at Tufts University featured several jokes that garnered laughs while hiding unspoken truths. The mayor said, "… your parents and relatives — who are sitting out there this morning, (are) beaming proudly, and not even thinking about what it cost to get to this day. Or what happens if you can't get a job and have to move back home."

Yes, that joke will undoubtedly be less comical after the graduation parties end and the job search starts up once again.

It appears, America, that my generation is stuck with the hazy morning after — the inevitable, dreary dawn found after being rushed awake. We've been dragged out of a deep sleep — and one hell of a euphoric American dream — and thrown into a harsh reality.

Parents, guidance counselors and principals alike, they all assuaged us: keep working hard, get into a good college — your future will be bright. They cajoled us, all the while electing leaders that ran up the deficit without hesitation, leaders that refused to listen to the science community about the dangers of global warming, and refused to take steps to adjust our economy while lifting trade barriers.

Most of those recent graduates struggling to find jobs today did everything asked of them. They studied hard in high school, gained acceptance to prestigious universities, then buckled down further once they arrived.

To Mrs. Ehrenreich: I thank you for your honesty.

To the graduates of the new millennium: The cards may be stacked against us, but we're hardly the first generation of Americans stuck with an uphill battle. Our apathy and taste for procrastination must be left by the wayside because we will succeed. We will because, as Ehrenreich and only Ehrenreich is willing to admit, for us, "it's a matter of survival."

To find out more about Brian Till and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.