I Call This, "Venting with David"

I have something to get off my chest, and I realize that it borders on TMI. Sorry! Reader beware!! Haha! While this blog is great for writing about our family's little adventures, it's also nice for sharing thoughts and, yes, feelings sometimes, too. I'm sure many of you probably can't relate to this situation, but maybe some of you can. Anyway, I figured the best way to address this is by talking it out with my best friend and mentor, David Hasselhoff. So, here follows my recent conversation with Mr. Hasselhoff:

The Hoff: So, Jean, how’s life?

Jean: Pretty good, aside from one major stressor.

The Hoff: Oh yeah? What’s that?

Jean: Well, in a nutshell… STUDENT LOANS.

The Hoff: Go ahead. Tell The Hoff all about it.

Jean: Well, Tim had a fantastic and rewarding experience at Art Center. However, Art Center is really, really expensive, so of course we had to borrow money each year to help pay for tuition and living expenses.

The Hoff: Mm-hm.

Jean: We were fine with this; we knew how much we were borrowing, and we knew what the interest rate would be. We knew we’d have to repay the loans, and we knew when.

The Hoff: So WTF? (meaning, why the face?)

Jean: Well, for some reason, we didn’t realize until about a month ago that the amount of our student loan repayments is going to be GARGANTUAN. We always thought that we had the option of selecting an income-based repayment plan, meaning that our student loan repayments would be no more than 15% of our income (soon to be 10% for everyone, thanks to recent legislation). Unfortunately, it turns out that that ONLY works for federal loans, not private loans from commercial banks (which, for us, is the majority of our loans). Private lenders do not offer this repayment option – click HERE to read more about it. Therefore, it turns out that in our case, our student loans are going to end up comprising a significant percentage of our income.

The Hoff: Hmm. That must have been a harsh realization.

Jean: It was, David. It was. The Despair-O-Meter skyrocketed. For several days, I thought about this student loan situation constantly. I thought about it when I went to bed, and I thought about it when I woke up. It was like the combination of a 50-pound weight on my shoulders, a twisting ache in my stomach, and a storm cloud over my head… ALL the time. I saw my dreams of buying a house disappear. It was a sad time. I’ve learned that there are few greater joy-sucking burdens in life than debt.

The Hoff: Jean, I just want you to know that The Hoff feels your pain. And I have just the thing to make you feel better:

Jean: Thanks, David. I don’t know what to say.

The Hoff: I know… I know. I create feelings in others that they themselves don’t understand.

Jean: Anyway, the bottom line is, I need to work.

The Hoff: You mean at your old job? That real estate thing?

Jean: No. Unfortunately, “that real estate thing” has been really slow since the downturn in the second-home market a few years ago. My boss only rarely has work for me, but he contacts me when he can.

The Hoff: Gotcha. So, do you have another job, then?

Jean: Yes! I got hired as an Admissions Clerk at a local psychiatric hospital. I’ll just be working on Saturday and Sunday evenings, which is great because (at least for those shifts) Tim will be home to watch Weston, AND I can still attend church on Sunday mornings. And honestly, I’m pretty excited about it.

The Hoff: Tell me more.

Jean: It’s pretty similar to my former job as Office Manager at the clinical counseling center at BYU, which is probably how I landed the gig. However, this will be to a whole… nother… level. Basically, it was described to me as the “psychiatric ER,” where a wide variety of people show up. Some are friendly, some are violent. Some are there voluntarily, some are dragged by law enforcement. Some are completely high, or going through withdrawal. It will be interesting, to say the least.

The Hoff: Indeed. So, when do you start?

Jean: Really soon. I’ve already gone through lots of trainings, but I’m most looking forward to a two-day training later this week called MAB, or “Managing Aggressive Behavior.” Supposedly it involves lots of yelling and role-playing. Hehehe!

The Hoff: Well, that’s all good and great. Any lessons learned about this whole situation?

Jean: Yes, one in particular. I will never, EVER allow my children to take out private student loans for their education. I don't want them to have to start their lives with a burden like this. Fortunately, as long as President Obama’s student loan reform holds up, that’s now a moo point. In the legislation, the policy of allowing private lenders to make federally-subsidized student loans was discontinued. From now on, only the federal government will make student loans, which means that all loans henceforth will be subject to the federal government’s income-based repayment plans. (Hurrah!!) You can read that HERE. FYI, this was just instituted earlier this year, so fortunately, Tim and I got in JUST in the nick of time! (Haha... sob…)

The Hoff: Interesting. What about silver linings? Are there any of these here, Jean?

Jean: Of course! There are always silver linings! FIRST: it’s important for me to remember that we’re going through the worst of the situation RIGHT NOW. This is the time in our lives when Tim’s income is at its lowest point in his career, and our student loan payments are at their highest. Eventually, we’ll knock out some of the loans; eventually, Tim will earn more money; and maybe eventually, the real estate market will recover enough to give me some regular at-home work for “that real estate thing” job, which is a lot easier to do as a mom. SECOND: it’s always good to be reminded about the importance of budgeting, so I guess that’s a blessing in disguise. And THIRD: I’m really happy about my new job. It’s freaking hard to find a good job that works around a SAHM-type schedule, and for a while, it seemed like being a night cashier at Walmart was my only option. I was so, so happy when I got a call for an interview for this admissions job, and even hap-hap-happier when they offered me the position. I love psychology (I know nothing about it, but I love it), and I’m really excited that I’ll have such an interesting and challenging job.

The Hoff: Well, that’s all great. Want to see that picture of me again?

Jean: That’s okay. Thanks anyway.

The Hoff: Alright… but here’s the link to an awesome music video, just in case you want to check it out, too.

Jean: Thanks, David. I think I actually have to go now.

The Hoff: Really? Okay, well, it was a nice chat. Good luck with everything! And remember the music video!!