January 28, 2022 marked my one year anniversary of paying off my student loans . Reflecting back on choosing to pay off my student loans leaves me with several take a ways that I want to share with you! In September 2020 I decided to become debt free by utilizing the debt snowball method to pay off all my debt. Before this I had struggled to save and really understand basic financial principles. As a first-generation college student, I received a scholarship to attend undergrad for free, but the scholarship did not cover summers. During the summers I took out student loans to cover costs without paying interest rates or how much I was taking out. By the end of undergrad I had amassed a little under $17K. Fast forward to graduate school I received another scholarship that covered my education. At the time I was a teacher in a new very expensive city and I had missed the cutoff to have my paycheck last me throughout the summer. So, I decided to take out a loan for two summers to keep
Hey guys! This past week I went on a trip to Austin and San Antonio, Texas with a group of students that I tutor. Yes, I know I was just in Austin a few weeks ago but I was only there for a few hours to visit the The University of Texas at Austin before heading to San Antonio where we spent the rest of the trip. This has been the most traveling I have done since 2019 and it felt great! With this new Delta variant who knows what travel restrictions will look like in the next few months!
Figure 1: This is my YouTube thumbnail for my latest video with four pictures of me sightseeing at different places in Austin, Texas.
Figure 2: This is a slide from a PowerPoint that explains what TRIO is.
We attended three college self guided tours where we learned more about The University of Texas at Austin, St. Mary’s University, and Texas A&M University San Antonio. Since many universities are doing self guided tours due to COVID be sure to choose schools that provide some sort of guidance on how to navigate the campus on your own . While most of the schools did one did not which made it very difficult to explore the campus. On one of our tours the students got to see a college dorm room which provided a great view of college life.
Figure 3: This is screen shot from my VLOG of the Texas A&M San Antonio sign.
I personally enjoyed the sight seeing the most! We explored The Alamo, Tower of America’s, a ferry ride, the aquarium, and a ghost tour. I think the ghost tour was the most memorable being that San Antonio is BEYOND haunted. After a two hour ghost tour with a guy who admitted to seeing ghosts after he was killed and came back to life at age three I was glad that we stayed at a regular hotel that was not haunted!
Figure 4: This is a photo of me smiling sitting next to two skeletons while waiting for the ghost tour to start.
Oh and did I mention the food!? I probably gained an extra few pounds after this week! We ate at a lot of great places like The Menger Hotel, Dave & Busters, Bubba Gumps, Bucca di Beppo, Hard Rock Cafe, and Golden Corral. The hotel even had a continental breakfast every morning which I took full advantage of! Just thinking about that makes me want to go back haha! Be sure to check out my latest VLOG below and tell me what you think! Have you been to San Antonio before? Did I miss any great spots? Do you believe in ghosts? Drop down in the comments and let me know!
Figure 5: This is a photo of a juicy bacon cheeseburger with fries and ketchup from the Hard Rock Cafe.
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