Students Across the Nation are Planning Something Unprecedented to End Student Debt Forever

[Tafiti]

115. Very black and white for a skeptic like yourself.

"KNOW what you're getting into." Okay, well, when I was 18 years old raised in a small, rural midwestern town by poor parents who didn't have much financial wherewithal, sure I was a smart kid, and I thought I knew what I was getting into, but guess what, I really didn't. Is that really that hard to understand that millions of other kids are in the same situation? That at 18, you might not have the wisdom and financial knowledge to know exactly what incurring college debt will really mean for your life? And that you might not have adults around you who know any better either? If you did, well congratulations, but to have a total lack of empathy for others who made an honest mistake (or even took a calculated risk and "lost&quot is pretty harsh.

Funny thing is, my undergrad debt was pretty small. I went to a very good, private liberal arts college, but I did well enough in high school that it was mostly paid for. Lucky me. But then in 2006, I decided to go to law school. And guess what I did? I did my research on the legal job market and the US DOL's reports said the industry outlook was very good and the job market was likely to stay strong. How responsible of me, eh? Well literally halfway through law school the economy collapsed and the legal job market plunged into depths not seen since the Great Depression. Hard to see that one coming. Now I have six-figure debt and, yes, I was very fortunate to get a job and I'm doing fine, but many, many others were not so lucky. It wasn't really possible for people in my situation to KNOW what they were getting into in this situation.

The moral of this story is, you shouldn't be so quick to judge and assume all people everywhere were just being irresponsible idiots when they borrowed money to take a chance on improving themselves and their situation. Sometimes you do the best you can with the information you have, but life has a way of fucking up best-laid plans sometimes.

Also, by the way, I think 7.9% interest on student loans is ridiculous, but maybe that's just me.