Dem committees attack House Republicans on student loans

[Dems2002]

12. It's not about fair - it's about screwing over young people for decades of their life

Here's my story. First generation college graduate from Northwestern University class of 1997. At this stage of my life I'm doing pretty well.

During my four years I had an academic scholarship and financial aide. I had a work study job my frshman and sophmore years. My junior year I added a pizza delivery job. My senior year I added the job of live-in nanny. (I never subtracted jobs, just kept adding)

I graduated with $20,000 of student load debt. I'll be 38 next month. I took a couple of deferrments in my early 20s as I did some unpaid internships in Hollywood while living at home. I have around $4,000 to go. This debt has been with me my entire adult life.

I was in Medill. I transfered out at the end of my sophomore year because I didn't know how I was supposed to afford to live off campus for the semester needed for Teaching Magazine. I never applied for internships or study abroad programs because I couldn't afford them. In hindsight, I could have gotten more financial aide, but like I said, I was a first generation college student. I didn't know a lot about this process.

I'm fine letting a kid get a job while in school. Of course, at schools like Northwestern, part of the job is networking which I bombed since...I was working crappy jobs and playing poker with the guys from Dominoes pizza. (No joke.)

This is not the way of the future.