Hello everyone! First, thank you for listening to my story. I’m 26 years old, I am a full-time graduate student working towards my doctorate degree, I work 3 part time jobs, and unfortunately, I’m drowning in $295,000 of student loan debt.

Growing up, I lived in a very toxic and abusive household due to the untreated mental health issues of my parents. The way that I coped with this was to put all my mental energy into my studies. When it came time to apply for college, the school’s that offered me the most financial aid were close to home, and for my own safety, attending college close to home was not an option. I ended up going to a good university out of state, but to attend, I had to take out private loans with 10% interest rates.

I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in psychology, passionate about helping people heal as I could see the toll that untreated mental health can take on a person, and on their family. I was hopeful and certain that if I worked hard, and cared deeply about what I do, that the finances would work itself out. My plan was to go to grad school, graduate, and open my own practice to treat my patients to the best of my ability. What I didn’t think about was this: that going to graduate school would require me to take out more loans, that starting a private practice would require me to take out more loans, and that I would be completely on my own with no help.

At this point, I feel that my very sense of freedom has been taken from me because my life is dedicated to paying off this debt. I want so badly to have a comfortable life and take care of other people and my patients, but right now I can’t even take care of myself. I’m struggling to pay rent, I’m beyond stressed and burnt out from working and being in graduate school full time, and sometimes I “decide” to fast, but really, I just can’t afford food for the day. I’ve been feeling so stuck because of my debt, that I literally feel like I no longer want to go on. I’m at such a disadvantage to really being able to start my life. I did not want this to be my story. I want to help as many people as I can, I want to be able to provide for my future children, and I want to live a comfortable life in a safe place, but right now I’m just struggling.

Again, thank you so much for listening to my story and thank you all for your kindness. If you would like to donate, my Paypal is linked below.

https://paypal.me/giannasmith

Hi! I am a high school English teacher who absolutely adores my job. However, my teacher salary does not pay enough to keep up with my student loans. Just before starting college, my dad died by suicide. He was supposed to help me pay for school, but suddenly he was gone. During my undergraduate studies, I had to take out private student loans with Sallie Mae. I took out six loans (3 years worth) which total $90,445. Unfortunately, Sallie Mae stopped letting lenders consolidate or refinance their loans, so now I am stuck with 6 hefty individual payments a month, instead of one manageable payment. I am only 25, so I don’t have enough credit to refinance with another lender, and I don’t have anyone to co-sign for me. I’ve researched and tried every option, but nothing or nobody is willing to help. These payments are killing me slowly.. I can hardly afford to eat anymore. If I could get rid of these loans, it would be the most incredible blessing of my life. I need this so bad. Please help me.

https://www.paypal.me/maysmad?locale.x=en_US

Some people may say and think that I have lived a semi charmed life. Growing up I had an older brother and two younger sisters; my parents were together, and they made it work for the most part. My family all grew up close and especially my sisters and I grew up inseparable and best friends. My senior year of high school the unimaginable in my perfect little life happened and my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. I was struggling in school and trying to finish strong so I could get into college to make my mom’s dreams come true for her kids. I worked hard, and before I graduated, I had secured a spot at the local college of UNH. My mom was able to attend my graduation and see me start my freshmen year of college. My mom had also gone into remission, and they had thought they had cured this for her.
At the end of the first semester my mom felt something was off and went for another look, they told her she had three weeks to live. She would be leaving behind my youngest sister who was only 12, the middle sister who was 15, myself at 18 and my brother at 20. Three weeks passed and she had lost her fight with cancer, and we had lost our whole world. My mom was the type of person who everyone adored, she lit up a room, made people feel welcomed and accepted, was creative, thoughtful, and incredible.
I knew my roll at this moment would change forever I quickly and fiercely swerved into the role of protector of my younger sisters as my brother was not there for us much. My dad started dating and within a year was married, never caring to put energy or focus into my younger siblings. The youngest of which was quickly spiraling out of control. She didn’t have proper guidance or therapy to deal with loss and turned to poor friend choices and rugs to cope. She went against my dad, and he took it personally and lashed back out. He sent her away to a girl’s home where she slowly started to lose all sense of sanity and hope for the world. I knew immediately I had to step in I had to do something. I knew I didn’t have the power to take her out, but I was there for her. While trying to work, attend college, full time, and put in the hour plus drive every other day to care for her I was no longer able to properly guide my own life.
I made it through college and graduated but with not much of a plan and a lot of debt. During this time my other sister had lived with me as well as she went through bad breakups and even divorce at young age. My youngest sister also had run away from one of the home and became pregnant. She decided to try and keep the baby. Shortly after the baby was born however her mental health declined and I took the baby in for her while she was admitted to the psych ward once again. We were all forced with the unbearably difficult decision to put the baby up for adoption. (To help we found an amazing family who love her more than anything, an open adoption and she is safe and cared for).
My sister was eventually able to live on her own. my middle sister graduated college and got a great job and is living so well with a husband and children.
I am struggling, I have not ever been able to pick up all my pieces that I let fall while I tried to save and keep my siblings together and from falling apart. I could never know if my choices were correct to sacrifice myself, but I can tell you I would never hesitate to do it again. Although I am not financially sound, I was safe, I was strong, and I could endure anything I needed to for my family and that is always.
I am currently facing divorce and have two amazing children of my own. My car won’t make it to my next inspection, and I have credit card debt due to medical and car bills. I need to be able to move out on my own, take care of my kids and move on to the next chapter of my life living for me and my kids.
I need this debt of my past to be gone, the debt I uncured to make everyone happy but myself. Right now, I am working in the Early Childhood Education field, and still giving back to children and families all that I can to help them start their lives strong and provide safe space for children who may not have that when they leave our Centers in the evening. I help our teachers who struggle in their daily lives, try to make this a place of love, light, support, family, and learning.
Please help me I am basically at the lowest and begging for help.
Sincerely,
Stephanie
https://paypal.me/null?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US

Hello, I’m a recent law school graduate, hoping to pursue a career as an attorney. I was hoping to be in a different place at this point in my life, both from a financial and career standpoint. Like many people, I had grand plans for how my life would go, and it has gone differently than I imagined. There have been metaphorical hills and valleys, but I’m currently in a “valley” season financially.

I have been working part time jobs the past few years, and paying on my student loan debts where I can, but I am finding this to be more and more difficult. I’ve been working seven days a week between 2 jobs, and am currently trying to prepare for the bar exam. I’m concerned that the job which makes up my primary source of income is in jeopardy. My boss, who owns this small business where I work, has been a victim of embezzlement. As a result, my last two paychecks have bounced, causing a delay in my monthly earnings. Every little paycheck counts, so this has had a direct impact on my income, and potentially the existence of the store itself. This “snowball” effect is causing great uncertainty, and I’m not entirely sure what my options are.

It is becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with my bills, while progressing with my career plans. I’m hoping to become a home owner soon, but my student loan debt, which is around $250,000, and consists of both private and federal loans, is preventing me from getting a mortgage.

With cost of living going up, I’m not quite sure what to do. My expenses are becoming overwhelming, and my financial options are limited. I share my rent with a roommate, and am still struggling to make payments every month. I’ve gradually depleted my savings, and am scared that I will soon have nothing. The uncertainty of this is becoming overwhelming.

I’m not expecting to pay off all of this at once, but I am at a financial crossroads. I make consistent payments on my private loans every month, and am coming to a point where I am struggling to make payments on my loans while keeping up with my rent and other monthly expenses. I’m working to be able to maintain my existing expenses, but also begin to move forward with my life.

Every little bit helps. I appreciate anyone taking the time to read this, and consider contributing to my cause. I hope to be able to pay it forward some day.

paypal.me/beengrear

Hi There,

I am a Libertarian. I state this because I recently discovered, learned about, and became a Libertarian just 2 years ago. My years as a young girl attending a public elementary school, I was a born rebel and I liked being one. I hated school because I hated all the rules…being told what to do and when. I remember, one day at school I decided to break those rules. I simply walked off-campus. I only made it so far as down the street before I became scared and turned around and headed back. As I was on my way of heading back and now “on-campus”, an aide noticed me and took me into the principal’s office where I was scolded never to do that again. It was my first pink slip. Oh, and my own mother was a third-grade teacher at the same school. Oops.

You see, from a very young age, it never sat well with me that we should be forced to do things and be treated like cattle. I was always a Libertarian, I just never realized it because I somehow went through life not even knowing it existed until I was 29 years old. I am forever grateful for the individual who exposed me to it and really challenged my beliefs. One of those beliefs being public education, but another regarding what society says you should do and exactly the route you should take to get there to succeed in life.

I got into a public university, barely, but I got in. Found out after my first 2 years there that I had ADD which was why I could never sit still to study and why I always got C’s and D’s in high school. I was put on probation and then was disqualified from my college. The Adderall medication being prescribed came a little too late. I transferred to a junior college and guess what, that Adderall allowed me to soar…I started getting straight A’s. It was the best feeling ever to be able to actually sit and learn and I was high on truly feeling intelligent for once! I started doing so well that I actually got BACK into my university and I was accepted into a highly competitive major (Psychology). I didn’t stop there. I then continued to work my butt off sacrificing blood sweat and tears to get into graduate school and I got in. Went to graduate school to earn my Master’s degree and I worked even harder to where it began to affect my health. Between grad school and work, I was working for 16 hours straight. Every. Single. Day. At the time, my goal was to get into a PhD program, so I had no choice, I HAD to get A’s in all my courses. I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I still had so much pride because the Adderall allowed me to literally be highly intelligent, something I realized in elementary school when I noticed how well the other kids learned and performed on their school tests compared to me. Despite my 16-hour days, I also felt proud that I was living my life the way society told me to. The successful path, according to society, is to go to college get a degree, and then go to graduate school and with having a graduate degree you will be successful, AKA rich.

I came from an environment where my mom would say daily to me growing up, “Money doesn’t grow on trees”, “I don’t know where you think we have the money to do that”, and “Oh, that businessman was able to start his own company because he grew up with wealthy parents”. Talk about self-limiting beliefs, right? You know, I am grateful to have discovered, when I was in college, the power of manifesting and visualizing one’s goals so that it happens in real life. I do believe it was a key component to me getting back into college and then into graduate school. It’s something I fell off the wagon with when I was in grad school and am now getting back into it. I meditate every day because it’s what gives me hope. In terms of my experience with schooling, I feel like I did everything by the books. I dedicated my life, I sacrificed every day for 6 years, I took my Adderall medicine even though I hated the way it changed my personality, my whole-being, on it. I ended up and am still dealing with burnout from grad school (and possibly another PTSD-incident where I thought I was going to be shot in the head during my morning commute to a meeting with my thesis advisor)…my Adderall suddenly stopped working during my last semester of grad school and I struggled with completing my thesis, the very last thing I needed to finish in order to actually receive my Master’s degree diploma. Years later, I finally finished it, my advisor even offered me once an option to surrender and give up on it, but I said no. I don’t quit in life, I don’t give up. If I don’t make the team, I work harder to make it next year. No matter how long it takes, I keep improving myself. I am proud of myself, because I could have exited out, taken the easy road. I don’t take easy roads. Trust me, I’ve even tried before. For some reason I am incapable of doing it. But, it’s my past experiences that have made me who I am today. I have $84,047.00 in student loan debt from choosing to go to graduate school. I am 32 years old. A female who is single and very much always saw herself having children of her own. I always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom because my mom didn’t have that option and she was incredibly stressed and in a negative mood constantly while I was growing up. I didn’t have a relationship with her, she never really knew me until late college, simply because she never had time to spend with me and get to know me and to teach me about life. I had to learn that all on my own and it was a painful journey. Because of my student debt, I’ve had to buck up and let that dream of mine go. It’s incredibly difficult to have passions and a purpose in life when you no longer can do the things that bring you joy. I, along with many others, are in survival mode. Our interests and passions have now changed from being doing it because we purely enjoy it to now how can I find a passion that can make me money or rather a job, minus the passion, that simply makes me lots of money. This is why I, along with many of us, struggle with our mental and physical well-being. It’s affected my relationships with my past partner, my friends, my parents, and myself.

I no longer take my Adderall medicine. I love myself for who I am off of it, and while my brain may be different than when I was on Adderall, it is back to being MY brain and I feel so much better. My body, so much healthier. I recognize and accept that I am on my own journey, my own path, and I am intelligent in unconventional ways and that’s the beauty of me. I wish I never went to grad school or college for that matter, because I do feel that I just would have greatly succeeded in life and at a young age had I chose instead to get real-life work experience. Had I done that instead of wasting my time trying to play the game of “college” and the government’s education system where I had to prove myself on pop-quizzes and tests on subjects that bored me to death…all that time wasted being forced to learn about subjects that would neither help me in life nor had interest in. I am grateful I recognize this now, and it’s because I took the time to learn about how my country is ran, it’s government, the economy, how money is created, and the ways I can begin to live my life free from government and the State. I learned and taught myself this on my own, no one forced me to do it. I thank the great philosophers who paved the way to living Free. Although I, along with I’m sure many others, feel that we did everything right, we went to college like they told us to do, we went to graduate school, only to be punished afterwards with incredibly high student loans, time we lost while dedicating ourselves that we’ll never get back, emotional and job burnout…I know that while we may feel shackled in chains and our souls sold to the devil, we have learned a great deal from our experience. Mine, is that I’ll never put myself nor others in government-ran schools and I will never trust the government to actually care about me. I wished I wasn’t so naïve about taking out student loans. At the time, I thought to myself “Oh, I will be making lots of money in the workforce after I get my Master’s degree so I’ll be able to pay it off in no time”. It’s not worth it when you find yourself on the losing side of that risk. And quite frankly, I don’t think it’s worth it for those of us who have ADD. We, especially, are not meant to fit into anyone’s mold.

I do want others who also have student debt to know, that you are not alone. And it isn’t your fault. We simply didn’t know that there are other alternative routes that we would have actually thrived in, or we were brainwashed against pursuing a less mainstream path. There is power in what we’ve experienced and learned from. Don’t give up; we have the power to change our situation and to re-create our self.

https://paypal.me/InGrattitude?country.x=US&locale.x=en_US