Dear Student Loans, I Will Not Miss You

Debt makes me physically ill with a pit in my stomach. I owed one of my roommates $30 for a week and lost sleep over it. I hate owing people money. So you can imagine how I felt when I took out my first student loan as a graduate student. I had managed to evade them until then, thanks to the help of gifts and scholarships I accepted gratefully. But out-of-state graduate tuition outpaced my part-time earning potential, so I took a deep breath and clicked ONE BUTTON on my online account to agree to borrow thousands of dollars. (The ease of the process also troubled me, but that's another post for another day.) I cried a little, and Fabio assured me we would pay it back very soon.

As soon as I graduated I started making the monthly payments trying to chip away at the loan slowly, but in vain. For almost two years the principle barely budged despite my measly--yet regular--offerings. Until finally last week two very exciting things happened: (1) the hospital returned our deposit after our insurance paid for my medical bills in full, and (2) we used the deposit and our savings to pay off my student loans in their entirety.

I thought the occasion merited an IPhone picture.

I should look more enthusiastic, considering how excited I actually was, 

but I had just finished a long bounce session with J.

And just like that--somehow between our morning walk, Jonathan's nap, and answering e-mails--I became debt free, this time with the click of two or three buttons online. Fabio came through on his promise to pay my loans back "very soon." I genuinely felt as though my steps were lighter that day, and it definitely ranks among the best days of my adult life. Phew!

Now on to Fabio's loans...