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From Graduation To Garnishment
How pursuing the American dream led me into financial bondage
“Debt is the slavery of the free.” — Publilius Syrus
I was sold a dream. I believed it — and now, I’m drowning in student loan debt with no lifeline in sight. This isn’t a political rant. I don’t speak on politics much, if ever. This is simply my story — a reflection on how I ended up thousands of dollars in the red, chasing a future I was promised.
May 5, 2025, is the day the reckoning begins. Loan borrowers, degree or not, will start receiving the letters. The COVID-era freeze is ending, and the piper has come to collect.
Scroll through YouTube and you’ll see it: fear in the titles, panic in the comments. We’re all asking the same thing — “How did it come to this?”
Unfortunately, underneath these videos, I see comments like these:
“You borrowed the money, pay it back!”
“I’m a taxpayer, and I don’t want my taxes paying for your debt.”
“If you have not paid back your loans, you are a thief.”
On one hand, I wanted to virtually strangle these commenters. Who do they think they are? Kudos if you are able to pay off thousands of dollars. Kudos if you had the…
