photo courtesy ehow.com
Student debt is like a snake strangling the life out of you and your bank account.
Just when you get out of school and think you’re on your way to making the big bucks with that fancy college degree you run into that brick wall called reality.
Instead of raking in the big bucks while building towards your first house or starting a family, that extra money will now be heading towards the massive student loans that are continuously growing.
My story might be a bit different than most, but the end result is definitely relatable.
Coming out of high school I was accepted into Occidental College, a private school with a yearly tuition upwards of $50,000. Despite getting over $30,000 of that covered with scholarships, the rest of it was covered in student loans either from the state or school.
At that time I was carefree. I was excited to be heading to a prestigious school like Occidental and figured that a private school would land me a job right away that would make those loans look like chump change.
Boy, how that went in the exact opposite direction from what I was expecting. That carefree mindset put me in a hole deeper than I was ever anticipating having to dig myself out of.
After two and a half years at the school I decided to withdraw after I began to realize that the education I was getting was unbelievably not worth the price I was paying. So in essence I saved myself from an extra $15,000 or so of debt. However, there’s still about $25,000 of debt now laughing in my face, which can be rather depressing when you take the time to think about it.
My advice to any of you who are considering heading to a new, more expensive school once your days as a Mt. SAC Mountie are over is this: be careful!
Life is a constant struggle as I’m sure most of you have come to understand. There are always going to be complications that smack you in the mouth when you least expect it, and your wallet is almost always a victim. If your lives have been anything like mine, the expenses find a way to pile on and stack up all at the same time.
The situation is constantly made more stressful when you have something like massive amounts of student loans lingering in the back of your mind. To go along with your credit card, cell phone, and car insurance bills that already tend to be overwhelming, a student loan payment latches on like a leach and drains any income that remains.
The biggest problem that comes with these student loans is the interest that they can accrue as the years go by, and it’s arguably the most easily overlooked aspect. When you get the official papers stating the amount of your loans it’s easy to see that figure and think, “Well that’s not too bad.” What you may be forgetting is the insane amount of interest that can build up in a short amount of time.
I recently received my notice that I need to start paying my loans in the near future. It gave me the numbers for some of my loans, totaling about $10,000. Then it showed me the amount I would have paid by the time I finished paying the damned thing off: almost twice the total amount of the initial loans!
It’s a bit mindboggling. I understand the economics of the situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less unsettling.
Again, my message to everyone is be careful, and be aware of the repercussions that come with these seemingly harmless student loans. Read up on what you’re getting yourself into so that you don’t have to pick your jaw up off of the ground when you discover how much you have to pay in the long run.
- Gil Alcaraz
Sports Editor
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