The author has a large amount of student loan debt.
Courtesy of Maria Aldrich
When I was growing up, my mom told me that education is never wasted. I was fortunate to grow up in a household where college was on the table.Having graduated from high school one year early, I started my associate degree shortly after my 17th birthday. For two years, I studied zoo technology. Upon graduating, I decided to transfer to a four-year school to pursue my bachelor's degree. I went on to study biology and chemistry, but after one semester, I changed majors to exercise science and minored in wilderness education.Changing majors and minors required me to take on additional credits to meet the requirements of my new degree track. Another three years went by, and I graduated with my B.S.I enjoyed school — learning had always felt exciting. So, I decided to pursue a master's degree. Two semesters later, the weight of my student loans began to creep up on me. Payments would soon be approaching, and I couldn't focus on anything but the amount of money I would have to fork over.I was getting myself into a hole I knew I would never be able to climb out of. I withdrew from the program a few weeks later in an effort to avoid taking out additional loans.Crippling student debt now haunts meI was just a kid when I started taking out student loans. I was eager to leave high school and begin my college journey, as most teenagers are. I knew I'd have debt to pay off down the road, but I wasn't expecting my debt to be so extreme at such a young age,The majority of my debt is owed to a private student loan company with astronomical interest rates. Now, I'm left with overwhelming monthly payments and two degrees that I'm not using. I'm a writer; I haven't stepped inside a zoo in years, and I never did use my exercise science degree.
