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

Balancing Being a Doctoral Student and Working Full Time is HARDT!

 

Balancing schoolwork and working full time can truly be a task. As someone who works fulltime and is working towards a doctoral degree, I feel like I have mastered the art of being a student. This past week as I was working on an assignment I began to beat myself up a little about not utilizing the long holiday weekend to complete a few discussion posts. This started me to think about how I stay organized between work and school.  

 


Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “Balancing Doctoral Life & Full Time Work” where I am sitting at my desk looking at the camera. I am wearing a black shirt with my arms folded.

 

The first key is organization. My planner sets the framework for this. It helps me to stay on top of things and plan long assignments.  I also organize my syllabi in a binder or keep them within eye view so that I am always aware of upcoming assignments.



Figure 2: This is a planner with two sticky notes, a pen, tape, and notepad on a desk.

 

My motto is “To be early is to be on time”. I typically work a week ahead (or try to) to account for any possible mishaps!

 



Figure 3: This is a gold small alarm clock. 


Lastly, don’t be so hard on yourself and ask for grace when needed. We are all human and fall short at times and that is okay! Are you a full time student and employee? If so, how do you manage? Drop down in the comments and let me know! Also, be sure to check out my latest video for my tips on balancing work and school life! 


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!!)💵🤑💰

  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