I'm excited to join the Debt Collective!

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#1

Hi everyone! I graduated Law School back in 2004 and started paying my loans in 2005. I had to exhaust all the forbearances and deferments at the beginning, because I was not earning enough to pay the minimum amount. Some people think that having a Law degree is a golden ticket that will guarantee you financial stability, but it is not always like that. Specially when you work for the government, like I did. I worked as an attorney for 5 years, living paycheck to paycheck and paying just the minimum amount on my loans. In 2010 I decided to switch careers and kept paying as I could. Then in 2015 I was able to enroll on a IDR plan that did nothing but to keep my principal intact or higher. My original amount was around 50K. Today is around 59K and I had paid about 22K just in interest. I’ve gone through periods of depression, anger, anxiety, and had lost sleep due to this debt.

I am 42 and I wish I could have bought a house a long time ago and save some money too. I don’t know if that will ever happen and it is beyond frustrating. I am grateful to have found this wonderful union. I believe there is power in the community, when people come together and fight for a common cause. I hope people keep realizing this and do not give up! We need to keep demanding and fighting for the cancellation of this debt and many others. The government is not just to give it to us like magic.

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#2

I thought my debt would be cancelled through teaching. I taught school for more than 20 years. Then I learned I couldn’t necessarily keep a job for another 10 years because I was run out of my job by people who gave me impossible work to do. I tried to get more teaching positions, but it seemed I was blacklisted or too old. I now earn 5 thousand dollars per year teaching online. I dreamt that if I died, i would at least escape these loans which have become exorbitant. However, I love life. Having loans that I can’t pay looming over me is the worst part of my life, and people like myself can’t even talk about them with the ‘blamers’ who blame the victims. I think the loans crippled lots of people of all ages, students and parents alike. It felt like debt slavery, and I urge people not to take out these student loans anymore. I wish you the best, and I hope your loans will be cancelled without taxes.

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