Hey there.
I'd say welcome but chances are I'll only be talking to myself in here. And that's ok. If you are here, then perhaps you feel as I do. That the working class is exploited under a wall of rules and debt that we will never wade out of.
First things first.
My name is Joslynn, I'm 27 and I've been working in the customer service and sales industry for about 7 years now. I've worked for many fortune 500 companies and spent countless hours doing the thankless work that keeps our communications platforms running. Yes, faceless, voiceless reader.... I am one of the people you call when you didn't pay your bill for the internet or when your tv stops working. I live in a world every single day of my life where it's personally my fault that you can't live without youtube for 12 hours, and where it's personally my fault that you can't pay for the service you asked for and you demand that I credit your account because of financial hardships. I am the faceless, disembodied voice that makes your life so hard.
This isn't where I thought I would be when I left high school either you know. I applied and was accepted to the New England Institute of Art in Boston, MA right out of high school and I thought that by now I would be at least somewhat successful. Because that's what's promised you in high school. Go to college and you'll have every opportunity in the world. I wish I could go state to state, city to city, and explain to these students that it doesn't work that way. I was forced to drop out of college after only a semester because I didn't qualify for the loans required to stay there, my parents made too much money. And then, when I finally did manage to get back into school and get it 'paid' for... I had to drop out yet again because my father lost his job and the family was moving mid term to a state that was too far for me to even contemplate staying behind. Leaving me with debt of what seems like chump change to most with loans, only 12,000. Let me say this. Any debt you can't afford is enough to drag you under.
After I left college, I got suckered into an abusive relationship. By the end of that 2 year mess I had no car, no job, no home, and certainly no money. It took me another full year to find a job that paid enough for me to even consider starting to pay that loan back. And believe me I tried, I offered them everything I could offer. But those collection agencies always want more then you can offer. One wanted me to pay $500 the first month and then $150 every month following... Now when you're making $9 an hour, that's a LOT of money. And I had other bills to pay. Insurance, rent, gas to get to and from work, food. These things were infinitely more important then that loan.
Then I was out of work again.
It was a vicious cycle really. Every time I thought I'd claw my way out, something would happen and I'd be sucked back in. It's embarrassing and for a long time I refused to talk to anyone about it.
Less then a year ago I called the Department of Education and I tried to work something out with them. I was supposed to pay $109 a month, something I could work with I was sure, and within 9 months I would be out of default and could start building my credit up again. Only one problem. They don't let you pay online, nor do they let you pay automatically from your bank each month. You have to call them every month and make a payment. Have you ever tried to call the department of education during their business hours? It normally takes anywhere from 30 min to 3 hours to get someone. And they're only open till 8pm EST Monday through Friday. For someone who works those same hours, that leaves no time to get in touch with them to make that oh so necessary payment. I struggled through it for a few months, calling on my 30 min lunch and praying it wouldn't be an hour wait, getting points and penalties from my job for being back on the phones late because they don't have an Automated payment system or enough reps to handle their call flows. Finally I was forced to give up.
Why does education have to be this way? Look at all the countries out there that have free college for their citizens. We could do that too.
It's to the point now that I've joined OccupyStudentDebtCampaign.org because this is a problem that we have to fix. with 1 in 6 people defaulting on their loans... something is seriously wrong. Education should be affordable. If you agree, even if you're not in debt. You should consider signing on too.
thanks faceless reader. I'll post a new entry in the near future, until then. Try to keep your head above water.
No comments:
Post a Comment