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How am I going to pay off my college debt?

My parents are separated, and my mother is barely able to keep my family afloat. Many nights I've had to go to bed hungry because my mother simply couldn't afford to buy food. I work a part-time job, but because my mother asks for money constantly, I lose my paychecks quickly. Nobody is going to help me. I want to become an Emergency Room Doctor; I want to help those who need it most. My life's goal is to become a doctor for Doctors without Borders, but how am I going to become a doctor if I'll be drowning in debt from getting my undergraduate degree?

#debt #college #collegedebt #medicine #doctor #premed #money #money-management #help #texas-a-&-m

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Subject: Career question for you
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Ken’s Answer

The best thing to do is to complete your education in an economical manner so that you would not accumulate a great college debt. You could start by talking to your own doctor to get some information, as he already knows you and would have an interest in helping you to achieve your goals. You could use the following tips to go into the emergency room of your local hospital and meet and talk to the people in charge to get their advice and assistance. It has been proved that the more aggressive you are in creating face to face dialogue opportunities, the more successful you will be in achieving your goal in a prudent and cost effective manner. From my experience, here are some suggestions can help:

Ken recommends the following next steps:

Start your education at the local community college, as the costs are less, the classes are smaller, and the credits will transfer. Also, they have internship and coop opportunities which would allow you to earn money as you learn and get practical experience and create networking relationships that will greatly help you during your education/career journey. Also, here are some additional tips: ## http://www.educationplanner.org/students/paying-for-school/ways-to-pay/reduce-college-costs.shtml ##
Take an interest and aptitude test to confirm that you are on a path towards a career consistent with you personality traits. When doing college recruiting, I ran into too many graduates who skipped this step and ended up in jobs/careers that for which they were ill suited. Do not let this happen to you.
When you identify an appropriate career area, talk to the person who tracks and works with graduates of your school and the local community college to arrange to meet, talk to, visit, and possibly shadow people who are doing what you might want to do, so that you can see and feel what it is like to do that job. You will be creating networking connections and relationships that will greatly help you during your education/career journey. Here are are some tips on getting helpful information: ## http://www.wikihow.com/Network ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/nonawkward-ways-to-start-and-end-networking-conversations ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-questions-to-ask-your-network-besides-can-you-get-me-a-job?ref=carousel-slide-1 ##
Locate professional associations to which people working you your area of interest belong, so that you can get to know people doing what you think that you want to do and get their advice. Many times these associations have or know of intern, coop, and scholarship opportunities. Here are some tips: ## https://www.careeronestop.org/BusinessCenter/Toolkit/find-professional-associations.aspx?&frd=true ## ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-eventhttps://www.themuse.com/advice/9-tips-for-navigating-your-first-networking-event ##
Here are some tips on how to locate internship and scholarship opportunities: ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-ultimate-timeline-for-landing-the-summer-internship-of-your-dreams ## ## http://www.fastweb.com/ ## https://www.themuse.com/advice/now-and-later-everything-you-need-to-know-about-internships ##
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Daniel A.’s Answer

This is a common concern for the next phase of your life, but I respect you for helping out your family. I can imagine how hard this can be. I'm proud of you for your aspirations!


I would do some research online to see what scholarships are out there, maybe even scholarships in relation to your desired major. I also know that when I graduated high school, my school counselor often had an updated sheet of local places offering scholarships. Another place I know you can sometimes find scholarships are through your Church, often times they sponsor a senior or two, and I think one requirement is to potentially write an essay or something similar. These three places are probably your best bet, but even potentially looking through your college's website to see if they have any scholarships available for grades, degrees, state wide, etc.


Money is out there for scholarships, it only requires time and effort searching for them.


Good luck with everything! You will do great things!
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Salina’s Answer

Elizabeth,


The first step is to be confident in your education. Finish your degree, and stay focused. In order to pay off your student debt you will need a good job. Stay committed to your education, make good grades, and get the job you want. You are not alone in this endeavor. Many people have been in your shoes and are successful.


Don't acquire debt that you do not need, borrow sparingly. Always look out for scholarships, and apply for everything. Make sure you are getting all of the financial aid grant money you are eligible for. As soon as you get into a position to repay, you will have to budget your finances accordingly. You will pay back your student loans, as long as you have a plan and stay committed to your goals.

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Richard’s Answer

Sounds like you will have to get student loans then work in private practice until your loans are paid off. Once you are financially independent you can start Doctors without Borders.
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