Final Essay

Sabrina Head 

Williams

English 1A

20 December 2013

                                                            Debt is a Killer

            Do you think the money you owe in college debt is worth a college degree? As soon as you graduate your mission is to start reducing your debt. This woman from Missouri named Dr. Bacon is terribly heartbroken because by now she still hasn’t paid off her debt. While making payments each month or probably weekly, you start to wonder how your life would be if you took the route of not going to college and just worked full time. A person who dropped out of college and works full time is stacking up as much money as a person who got their degree and is now owing huge stacks of money back. “According to the documentary College Conspiracy Dr. Pamela Bacon states that’s education ruined her life and that instead she would be better off working at McDonald’s”. If you doubt your schooling that much it was a huge mistake. College degrees are supposed to make you feel accomplished and lead you on a successful path. Debt is like a nightmare you can never wake up from. Student loans are dangerous but how eles will you get through college if you have no money. They set college students up to fail because debt is something nobody wants.

            Student loans create such a huge debt that college graduates can’t handle which puts a hold on their financial start in life. You just graduated college what’s the one thing you immediately do? Get your own house or apartment because by now you feel old and responsible enough to be on your own. Now how can you get a house or apartment if you already owe thousands of dollars? Since you have a huge debt, your plan now is to get a full time job ASAP and save money to get out of your parents’ house and pay back some of your debt. You’re stuck to living the same life before you went to college because debt put a hold on the things you most want. “Your life is consumed with massive debt, color-coded bills, and constant calls from malicious debt collectors” (pg.33). Your life becomes hectic because you have much to worry about at a very young age. You become stressed and live in debt. When you shy off debt collectors and it becomes out of control they start to take it out of your bank accounts.

            College graduates can’t focus on the start of their career because they’re too busy trying to pay off their debt so they settle for less and disregard their future career. You want to start paying off the debt quickly, so you don’t have time to look for the job you want as your future career. In the meantime people settle for less to get their things straight then overtime they start training and interviewing for their dream job. According to the article 7 College Graduates whose Lives Were Wrecked by Student Loan Debt, “Student debt has become the defining feature of their lives- the milestone around their necks that hold them back from a full financial future” (Mandi Woodruff). A milestone because it’s literally going to take forever trying to pay it back and there’s no way of escaping. Student loans keep us down because we could never achieve higher with debt on our backs. Debt is something I’m scared of, a way I avoid it is to not get a credit card. A way to have money all the time is to save it.

            As students take out these loans they can prevent a huge pile of debt by saving their money from a part time job to pay it back by the time they graduate. Even though college can be stressful itself you still have to time to manage a part time job on campus or even outside of campus. As you walk to your part time job you save money by not paying for gas. Your dorm and tuition is taken care of so you pretty much don’t really need to spend money. Saving money in general is very helpful when you run into big expenses unexpectedly. The debt collectors need to figure out a plan so that the people who owe a lot of debt can stay on track at a reasonable speed. Samuel and his wife were both college educated but Samuel started his own business. Suddenly his business went dry and he was left with no incoming income. “Although he and his wife made decent money, Samuel explained, they still lived “Paycheck to Paycheck” and had quickly depleted their savings” (pg.31). Now the times you really need your savings you wish you saved more. You always need a backup when things fail. Start saving now and you will be very fortunate in the long run. Samuel took the risk of having his own business because sooner or later you won’t have customers. Putting a little money away will overtime have a huge impact on you in the future.

            In conclusion, college student loans can put you in serious danger in the future. Everybody knows how loans work so they know what they are getting into. If you didn’t know about it, now you do so start saving money now. Most people look back and ask their selves if college education was worth it. It’s worth it but you need to learn how to make it work. Don’t let debt keep you from jumping right into your dream job after college graduation and be able to move out of your parent’s house. Don’t be broke as a joke.