As someone who's working on his Master's, I've got one piece of advice to give to the OP:
Study because you enjoy it, not because of peer pressure or job requirements. Pick what interests you. If you do, you'll be more than willing to put up with the associated debts.
Personally, I work off of parental cash transfers, one measly government grant and whatever I can scrape together from my job as a copy editor. I'm paid just a few hairs above minimum wage and I plan my expenses carefully. The end result is that I currently won't have much more to pay back than the government grant. I have no student loans and money passed on to me by the folks counts as a standard expense. Yes, I do still live with my parents, but I'm largely financially independent.
Times are indeed harsh, but don't give up, OP. Education is *never* wasted. Feel free to call me an idealistic cloud-shoveler, but I'd rather think of my degree as a personal challenge rather than a must-do or must-own for the purposes of employment. I know plenty of people who started studying in one field and found themselves working in entirely different sectors.
The key is to keep on trucking, and to make sure you have enough gumption to present a tantalizing prospect even when you're applying to a job posting that's entirely removed from the proficiencies you spent years developing. Above all, however, you have to have fun throughout this process.
As for college being a sad experience, it's probably related to how much you tried interacting or relating with others. You don't need to try to forge epic friendships that'll last you for life, but maintaining one or two contacts never has harmed anyone.
Above all, *never* be ashamed of your current situation. I've worked six jobs since I started working, from babysitter to interviewer to entry-level IT drone - and now I'm largely surviving off of other theses and memoirs I correct or translate at ten cents per word. I've seen guys who'd spent their lives busking on some of the worst corners of Montreal who considered ten cents above minimum wage to be an absolute godsend, and decorated Ph D's from the four corners of the world being stuck operating taxicabs because Canada doesn't recognize what's probably an entirely acceptable degree.
Here's the bottom line: you're employed, you have food on your table and a roof over your head. You're better off than two thirds of everyone on this sorry little globe. For every hour you spend at the Pepsi warehouse, you get to spend one enjoying life as you see fit.
Yes, your situation does suck, but it'll pass. Even if it doesn't, you're golden when compared to Third World residents.
