STUDENT LOANS FROM THE 70’S

Student loans start with a desire to learn, to go to college, to do something.

Was it different in the 70’s?

The smart academic advice on the street then was, Drop out, Turn on, Tune in.

Given by a PhD.

I signed some papers and away I went. Loan papers.

Six hundred dollars covered the year at $200 in tuition per term.

I also received money on a sports scholarship and washed dishes in the dorm kitchen for work/study money.

For spring term my parents sent $100 dollars they borrowed on a bank note for me to pay back.

Over the summer I worked in a sawmill so I wouldn’t have to borrow any more money.

How would I ever pay back the first $700, let alone four years added up?

Under such unrealistic financial pressure, I joined the army for two years and came out with the G.I. Bill.

But the money talk then was, “Take out a loan. The interest is so low it’s like free money. And it’s good for your credit score.”

I started in 1973 and finished in 1991, dropping in, dropping out, and dropping back in.

I owed money to two colleges and the Veterans Administration for mishandling G.I. Bill money.

It wasn’t the burden of paying for college that saddled me with student loans and debt.

It was me and the challenge of being responsible. I wasn’t.

Ouch.

It left such a mark that I’ve written three hundred and sixty posts tagged with ‘education.’

So I’ve got that going for me.

Repaying Student Loans

If five grand was a weight that dropped me, what would $50,000, or $500K, have done?

How ever did I pay back student loans?

Simple. I got married. Then my sharp wife looked at my mail.

“What’s this?”

“College stuff. I get it all the time.”

“And this?”

“From the VA. Don’t worry about it.”

I didn’t, but she did.

We talked it out. The more we talked the more I sounded like an idiot.

If someone is an idiot in a marriage, and it’s you, it’s time to change.

In shorter time than I could imagine, we budgeted loan repayment and cleared the books.

Happy days.

Modern Student Loans

If you graduate with debt, you can get some of it taken down if you go into teaching.

Joining the military with student debt takes some of it off.

But if you’re not teacher material, or army ready, and the interest keeps piling up, the future is not good.

Young adults worrying themselves sick about every dollar in their wallet is an edgy life that comes with a sinking feeling.

Baby boomers know that sinking feeling. There they were at their high school graduation party planning more of the same.

Then the next day they get a draft notice to show up for a physical to be sure they’re fit enough to go to Vietnam.

Some of the guys on top of their game made alternate plans for themselves.

2

Smart people find ways to make life work better. It’s nice when they share their discoveries with the rest of us.

Even if they don’t, we can still see the benefits of their actions.

Go ahead and complain about Jeff Bezos while you’re shopping on amazon.

Give Elon Musk a good knock while you slip into your Tesla.

Bill Gates? Send him a rant on Windows.

President Joe Biden? Send the man a thank-you card, America.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for listening to advisors with their finger on the pulse of the country.

Students in college, and post college, thank you. Kids in high school thank you.

Most of all, their parents thank you.

3

I’m a parent of college kids. They got help from as many places as possible. Even Grandma and Grandpa.

And they graduated with student debt.

The key word is ‘graduated.’

They left college with multiple degrees and certificates and student loans.

Their old man didn’t graduate from the first college attended, or the second. But Portland State delivered the diploma. After I got married.

The same wife who got me academically motivated, turned into a motivational mother.

She heard campus advisors say, “It’s good to let the students take an extra year or two to find their true calling.”

Momma knows money. She dove into the graduate requirements and started forecasting class schedules for the most direct path to a college education.

Family support is huge, but not as big as a motivated student, one who puts themselves through the rigors of higher education.

Biden’s loan forgiveness is a boost to academic ambitions.

Why Education Matters Now

After prolonged exposure to the most ignorance embracing leader in presidential history, one who calls out his ‘love’ for the under-educated, we need to turn on the lights.

The Secretary of Education he appointed was an ideological menace.

His cabinet was full of kiss-ups willing to ignore the level of stupid in every room the former president entered.

After all, this was a man who deemed himself smarter than military generals and admirals who dedicate their lives to their martial mission; smarter than the doctors during the covid pandemic; and smarter than you, me, and everyone we know.

If you’e never heard this schtick before you might fall in love. But you’d fall in love with a man who exchanges love letters with North Korea and Russia and Prince Bone Saw from Saudi Arabia.

The educationally inclined see these issues for what they are: Poor choices. Intentional manipulation. Deflecting attention.

We don’t embrace such an idea of love. Why? Because it’s not love. So there’s that question of love.

Where do you start unwinding the weird love affair with a strange person?

Right here:

I’ve gotta take a little time
A little time to think things over
I better read between the lines
In case I need it when I’m older

This mountain, I must climb
Feels like a world upon my shoulders
Through the clouds, I see love shine
Keeps me warm as life grows colder

In my life, there’s been heartache and pain
I don’t know if I can face it again
Can’t stop now, I’ve traveled so far
To change this lonely life

I wanna know what love is
I want you to show me
I wanna feel what love is
I know you can show me