Skip to main content

My One Year Student Loan Payoff Update

  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

How Did My Fall 2021 Semester End?


Another semester has come to an end, and I am more than excited to have a little rest. If you don’t know I am a second year Higher Education doctoral student. My program is entirely online, and I typically take two courses a semester. This semester I took a Law in Higher Education course and a Qualitative Research course.

Figure 1: This is a photo of my YouTube thumbnail for my latest video "How Did My Fall 2021 Semester End?" where I am smiling at the camera with my hand under my chin. My hair is short black and curly, and I am wearing silver hoop earrings.


I was the most nervous about my Law in HIED course as I had heard that it may be difficult. It also didn’t help that the professor emailed us early in the course and let the class know that he would be more than a stickler for APA format. This class also required a LOT of reading I’m talking at least a hundred pages a week. Throughout this class I mainly read various cases and wrote APA style summarizations of a given one in a discussion post.  Now my Qualitative Research course was basically an add on to the introductory class, so this was simple since I was able to build on to my original assignment. My original assignment was a mini dissertation that focused on job outcomes for students on the Autism Spectrum in higher education.

 


Figure 2: This is a photo of a brown gavel used to illustrate my law course.

While both courses did require a lot of time and effort ya gurl successfully passed both with an A! With working full time and a few parttime jobs as well I always make sure to take care of business first! Reflecting on this semester here are a few takeaways for any other students out there:

  • 1.     Use a planner to stay organized.
  • 2.     Read your syllabus daily to keep up with assignments.
  • 3.     If you’re an online student like me log into your online platform (Canvas, Blackboard, D2L etc.) every day!
  • 4.     Stick to a schedule to create a routine.
  • 5.     It’s a marathon not a race. A bachelor’s or graduate degree still holds the same no matter the time it took to obtain it.
Figure 3: This is a screenshot of my grades. The course title is listed, the campus, and final grade of an A.

How did your semester go? Do you have any tips to stay successful? During the winter break I usually forget about school altogether but this semester I am taking a winter mini course which lasts for about four weeks so that’s currently where all my focus is. I’ll be sure to give you an update on how things are going. In the meantime check out my latest video and be sure to sign up for my weekly email list to stay up to date with Ms. Duggan and all things education!

 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fall Refunds are Here for College Students

 It’s my favorite time of the semester…REFUNDS! A few weeks after the semester begins all of your financial aid pays out and if there’s any left over you get a refund! You will know that your receiving a refund if there’s a negative balance on your account. It’s the one time in history where you actually want to see a negative balance!  Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video where I am in my office with a surprised look on my face.  This semester I paid $241 in fees and I received a $500 grant for individuals who work at community colleges. Oh yeah  did I mention I work at a community college too part time as a tutor? Anyhoo, since I had already paid off my student account I received the $500 as a refund. If you’ve been watching my YouTube videos or reading my blogs then you already know this money is going to debt.  Figure 2: This is a photo of three $100 bills and three $50 bills. With refunds posting to accounts daily you want to make sure that you are constantly c

Fall 2021 HEERF & CARES Act Funding is Here!! (FREE Money for College Students!!)πŸ’΅πŸ€‘πŸ’°

  A few days ago, I was surfing on my universities homepage and I noticed that there was a message at the top regarding summer II HEERF and CARES Act funding. Since I was enrolled in both summer semesters, I decided to send an email to the person listed as the contact to ask if I could receive more CARES Act funding for the fall semester. Since I had been enrolled in the first part of the summer and had already received funding I was not eligible but I was told that another round of CARES Act funding would be given in the fall! In case you did not know HEERF funding is the Higher Education Emergency Relief Act that was enacted for college students due to the pandemic. HEERF provides billions of support in education through CARES Act funding for enrolled students. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my YouTube video on “Fall 2021 HEERF & CARES Act Funding is Here” where I am wearing a black shirt with a surprised look on my face. Now while I am not sure on how much you will receive thi

President Joe Byron Student Loan Forgiveness Update

  BING BONG! President Joe Byron has made an official statement regarding student loans. One that many of us were not expecting to hear. Well not me because I suspected this all along hence to why I am paying my student loans off. If you have not heard, Mr. Biden is not extending the federal pause on student loans. That means that on February 1, 2022 you will need to begin making payments again and your interest is back in affect. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “President Joe Byron Student Loan Forgiveness Update” where I am seated in my office while looking at the camera with a suspicious look on my face. I am wearing a black sweatshirt that reads, “They go low we go high.  As you all know I decided to pay off my student loans about a year ago when I started by debt free journey. Thanks to Jesus and all of my hard work, I am almost there and will update you at a later date on what I did to pay off my student loans. Many folks are in an uproar and feel straigh