Member-only story
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or policies of Debt.com.
In 2011, Kara from Bravely graduated college with a degree in English. She also graduated with $25,302 in student loan debt. She was scared, sad and angry all at once. “I grew up lower-middle class, and $25,302 was more money than even seemed real,” says Kara.
She couldn’t find full-time work, so she started working as a waitress. But the long hours and hard work didn’t help with her student loans. What made matters worse, her friends were busy traveling and working at jobs they loved for low wages because they didn’t have any debt.
“Beyond feeling paralyzed, my debt affected my sense of self-worth. Not being able to find work outside of waitressing made me question my value,” says Kara. “The real kicker was that these feelings were never far from my mind.”
When she paid her bills each month, she cried. When she thought about her income level, she cried. Kara says, “The vicious cycle I was trapped in was weighing on me. It was ruining my life.” After two-and-a-half years, Kara reached her breaking point.
