I'm a grown up now

The most expensive piece of paper I own!

At some point in your life you have to face the facts, you can't be a child forever. Eventually either by the natural progression of events or through a sudden change in circumstances we all become adults. It's inevitable, we can't fight it no matter how hard we try. For me it was a slow progression to becoming a real adult, but I feel it became reality after I had to start paying back all my student loans.


Like most college graduates in this country, I have a lot of debt. The national average is roughly $29,400. I have roughly double that. You want to talk about a moment that makes you realize you are an adult now, imagine seeing the first letter from the bank telling you it's time to pay them back. It will shock you right into adulthood I guarantee it. I count myself as one of the lucky college graduates that has a job to help pay these loans every month. A lot of college graduates have trouble finding even a basic job because they are either over qualified for it or don't have enough experience. It's a catch 22, we are told go to college because you need a degree to get a good job. Don't worry about the loans once you get out of school you'll get that job and you'll pay them off in no time.

Yet for a lot of college graduates it has become a constant game of barely getting by. Having a college degree is great don't get me wrong, if you are in the right field you can find work. You also have a better chance of making more money overall then someone without one. But, is it worth the years of crippling debt and barely scrapping by?

At the moment I don't have an answer to that question personally. Right now I'm barely getting by working part time. I make enough to pay my bills each month and if I'm lucky I have a little extra money left over for myself. Now as I mentioned last week I just took a full time job that should lead to more breathing room for me financially. So hopefully I will be able to chip away big chunks of this debt in the future. I know it won't happen overnight but as an adult I know if I keep at it, eventually it can all disappear.