“I never slept, but at least I made the Dean’s List a few times.” – James’s Student Loan Story

Guest Post by James Scott
This is a difficult story to tell – in part because I have to live it all over again, but also because it sounds like an exaggerated Lifetime movie, and I wonder at times if people think I made it up. I never put college on a pedestal or had the [...]

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“It’s either take care of my daughter…or pay student loans.” – Terri’s Student Loan Story

As a child, Terri Crothers dreamed of becoming a photojournalist, but her parents - a parts buyer for a large department store and a distribution/receiving specialist for a vehicle manufacturer – were worried about her financial prospects. “My folks believed I couldn’t make any money doing that and encouraged me to try something else,” she says.  [...]

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“If I had to do it all over again…” – John’s Student Loan Story

John* was supposed to be a success story.  He grew up in a middle class home in Elk Grove, CA where his father was a captain of a dredging ship and his mother worked as a chemist for the state.  John was a precocious child, earning straight As throughout much of his early education.  When [...]

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Jobs You Can’t Afford – Chef

One of my chief reasons for starting this blog was to highlight how much our career choices are affected by student loan debt.  As The Nation once suggested, student loans have everything to do with social control, but it doesn’t always work out for the betterment of society:
How many young people turn away from low-paying but [...]

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“We have served our sentence…” – Louise and Paul’s Student Loan Story

When Louise* decided to go to college, she knew she was on her own and she planned accordingly.  Her parents had a rocky marriage, ultimately ending in divorce, and though they would have liked to help her with her education, they didn’t have the money.   “As a college student, I took out minimal student loans [...]

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“I Started Living in My Car…” – Peter’s Student Loan Story

Peter O’Lalor has had a difficult life by any standard. In 1960, when he was just three years old, his mother was forced to put he and his four siblings in an orphanage. A series of foster homes followed, though he was returned once, at age ten, to his mother and lived with her for [...]

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Harvard Law Grad Burns Diploma

I came across this story today in the ABA Journal about “Jack,” a 30-something lawyer on a quest to lead a simpler life.  As part of his journey, he decided to torch his Harvard Law School diploma; he posted the video of the burning on YouTube.  Jack had gone to law school to become a public [...]

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A Lyrical Soul – T.J.’s Student Loan Story

What sort of person becomes a composer?  One thinks of a small, be-suited child, perhaps wearing a bowtie, a bit out of place and yet mature beyond his years as he sits eating dinner at a long, dark, candle lit dinner table in Manhattan.   Rigoletto plays in the background as wine glasses clink and his [...]

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My Student Loan Story – Part II

I couldn’t afford the expensive test prep. courses for the LSAT so, while working as a barista in the cafe section of a Barnes & Noble, I devised my own study method, reading books and working out logic puzzles on my breaks.  I wound up doing well, but because I took the test in February, I had [...]

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My Student Loan Story – Part I

By some estimations, I am one of the lucky ones.  I went to some of the best schools in the country, I have a good job in a field that I may not have dreamed about but certainly respect, and I am in no danger of winding up on the streets any time soon.  Yet [...]

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