How to Pay Off $7,000 in Debt in Two Semesters of College
Matthew Paulson
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When I was a sophomore in college, I found my self in a pretty bad financial situation. Between paying for school and a budding credit card problem, I had found my self in $7000 worth of debt. My net worth was headed in the wrong direction and it needed to change 180 degrees. I statistically had one 
of the lower amounts of debt among my peers, but it still wasn't good. If I kept doing what I was doing, I would find myself $20,000 in the hole just when I was ready to start off life, no thank you. I knew it was time for action.
At the time, I was working at McDonalds because in small town with a population of 6,400 people, there weren't too many options. I had applied for a few different positions when I first got to college, but that's all that was seemingly available. I had done the fast food thing once before, so I figured I could handle it. By this time, I was sick of working at McDonalds as well, and knew that getting more hours there was probably not the answer.
Instead I decided to start searching. I visited the city career center, I read the newspaper, I searched online, I went to the campus career center, I asked around, you name it, I did it. There were a surprising amount of employment options when I actually put a lot of effort into looking. I took a listing of everything worth applying for, and began filling out applications to the best of my ability.
I even applied for the most highly paid student position on campus which pays $16.35 an hour to do computer support. The application process was horrendous, but I actually did get that job! Unfortunately the job was only 11 hours a week, and wouldn't quite be enough. I also accepted a tutoring job which only paid $6.35 an hour, but most of the time I just did my homework while I was there, because there was not much demand for tutoring. In my search I found a position at the campus newspaper which only paid $50 a month, but it sounded like really fun, so I did that too.
At the time, I was working at McDonalds because in small town with a population of 6,400 people, there weren't too many options. I had applied for a few different positions when I first got to college, but that's all that was seemingly available. I had done the fast food thing once before, so I figured I could handle it. By this time, I was sick of working at McDonalds as well, and knew that getting more hours there was probably not the answer.
Instead I decided to start searching. I visited the city career center, I read the newspaper, I searched online, I went to the campus career center, I asked around, you name it, I did it. There were a surprising amount of employment options when I actually put a lot of effort into looking. I took a listing of everything worth applying for, and began filling out applications to the best of my ability.
I even applied for the most highly paid student position on campus which pays $16.35 an hour to do computer support. The application process was horrendous, but I actually did get that job! Unfortunately the job was only 11 hours a week, and wouldn't quite be enough. I also accepted a tutoring job which only paid $6.35 an hour, but most of the time I just did my homework while I was there, because there was not much demand for tutoring. In my search I found a position at the campus newspaper which only paid $50 a month, but it sounded like really fun, so I did that too.