What Happens When You Default on Student Loans and Credit Cards?
Student life, I know for a fact is one of the most exciting
parts of life that most of us may wish to relive. The fun,
the independence, the sudden shouldering of responsibility,
the freedom, the parties…
Studying up to late hours and hard work put in to build a
promising future are all part of the same game. Students
living away from home especially, have great experiences to
go through.
But along with this new found freedom comes responsibility
and that's something you cannot opt out of (unless you're
like me).
I dropped out of college in my junior year and got a job
working on a ship traveling around the world… Italy,
France, Spain, Holland, Beirut…
The adventure was intoxicating.
But after working 8-10 hours/day, 7 days a week on a ship
mostly out at sea, doing hard, manual labor (with no women
on board) gets old faster than one might imagine.
No family, no friends - just a bunch of drunken sailors,
…no television, and no land because you're out at sea in
rocky waters most of the time.
After you've seen the new cities several times each and
hung out at the same bars over and over, some of the magic
disappears.
You get lonely. You get homesick.
And then reality sinks in… 30 more years of this crap! So I
decided to go back to school and finish college.
But this time without the financial support of my parents.
They took advantage of my situation declaring me
independent and cut off any further financial (fun)ding...
I was on my own!
So I did as most other students do, took out student loans
and credit card loans. I worked part time and funded the
shortfalls with my credit cards.
I rented an apartment paying basic electricity, gas and
store bills. I had to pay my credit card bills and had
several other regular expenses that were necessities and
some simple enjoyments.
I finally graduated, got a decent job as a computer
programmer in Boston, Mass and started living as a
responsible adult.
All was going well until I left my job as a computer
programmer in snowy, freezing ice-cold Boston, and decided
to relocate to the Grand Bahama Island in the Bahamas.
My bachelor degree was in Architecture and I found work
with a fellow classmate in sunny Nassau, Bahamas…Ah- The
good life... Sun and Fun.
I rented a beachfront bungalow and found work on Paradise
Island. Life was good…
Until one day I found out that I needed working papers to
continue working and could not apply for them while I was
living in the Bahamas. i would have to apply while out of
the country.
The Bahamians know how to take care of their own.
To get accepted for the working papers, I would have to fly
back home to New York City and apply for the working papers
there.
Once they receive my application, The Bahamians would then
run an ad in the local newspaper for the job.
If they could not find any qualified Bahamiams for the
position, only then would they grant me the working papers.
Thus began my saga of my living off credit cards,
defaulting on student loans, credit cards and other
financial disasters which have haunted me my entire adult
life.
And that is why I am writing this story of w(owes).
So that you can avoid the mistakes that I have made and
have taken me decades to correct. This is the end of Part 1
of a 4 part series.
Next time: What Happens when you Don't Pay Your Loans?
