Ventura native Robert Steminger graduated in the top two percent of his high school class but is unable to secure a job, even noting that he was “rejected from McDonald’s.”

“They told me that if I worked hard in high school, I could do anything I put my mind to, but now that I’m grown up, it’s not happening,” Steminger said. “I’ve been lied to my whole life.”

Steminger’s frustration with the current unemployment rate  inspired him to get involved with the Occupy Ventura movement, which was inspired  by the protests that began in Wall Street a month ago.

Steminger said of the Occupy Ventura movement, “It was bound to happen. People have been angry for a long time. It’s an outlet for their frustration… I really support it; I think it’s going to get something done now that people have a way to express their frustration.”

Ideally, Steminger would like to see banks give out fewer mortgages, and have manufacturing moved back to the United States.

“I know it’s a long shot,” Steminger admitted.

“I hope that the one percent sees what’s happening to the rest of us…[and do] anything to help the people. It doesn’t have to be specific,” Steminger said.