It's All About Taking Responsibility for One's Personal Choices

As a rule, I avoid writing about anything political because it can be so divisive. However, after our fearless leader signed an executive order yesterday forgiving a possible $3 billion in student loan debt, I just had to speak out. This is a very sore subject with me, and I will tell you why.

I hold four college degrees, and I never took out a student loan to complete any of them. It can be done, but it isn’t easy. Starting from my Freshman year of college, I chose to work full-time and attend college part-time. Yes, it took me eight years to complete my Bachelor’s degree, but when I finished, I was debt-free.

Life was tough during those years, I’m not going to lie. If I wasn’t attending classes or doing homework, I was working. A social life was one of the things I had to give up.

And I was often envious of my fellow students, some of whom used student loan money to take ski trips and beach vacations during school breaks while I stayed home and worked. I missed Christmas and Thanksgiving for eight years, because I couldn’t pass up the time and a half I got paid for working holidays. Vacations were another thing I forfeited.

What about my parents? Well, they didn’t have the funds to send me to college, and I didn’t qualify for any type of financial aide. Poor white girls aren’t a high priority for that kind of thing, so I was SOL on that front.

Anyway, after I finished my Bachelor’s degree, I started teaching — and saving money. My next goal was a Master’s degree. After two years, I had enough in the bank to start my program. I continued teaching full-time and attended classes at night. Though I couldn’t afford a top shelf college, and though it took me four years to graduate instead of two, when I graduated, I was debt-free.

My next two degrees were earned in a similar manner. Bottom line, I made a choice to pay cash for my college education. It was a choice that required a lot of sacrifice, but it was worth it in the end.

Yes, the cost of college tuition is spiraling out of control, but this is not a reason to take on massive student debt, it is an excuse for it. There are many ways to mitigate the cost of college if one so desires, but as noted above, they involve sacrifices that many are not willing to make.

Attending community college or a lesser-known institution is not as prestigious as going to that big-name University; living at home is not as much fun as living in the dorms; and working all the time while your friends are out partying is a drag. But again, it all comes down to personal choice. Something’s got to give. Sometimes you just can’t have it all. A hard pill to swallow for some.

If an individual chooses to take out a whopping student loan in order to attend a college they can’t afford, that’s their choice; but it definitely should not be our collective obligation to pay for that individual’s irresponsible choice.

I worked my fanny off earning my college degrees. Where’s my reward? Or am I the idiot? Maybe I should have taken out a loan, not worked so hard, and waited for Big Brother to rescue me from the consequences of my own ill-considered choices. What do you think?