No more student loan!

Ethan informed me last week that he was paying the last payment on my student loan. Hooray! This has been a sore spot and something humorous for years now simply because I am no longer in the profession that required me to get the loan. I went through junior college, and university without loans. My parents are super cool. They thought it was important for me to go to college and helped however they could. In junior college they paid for my units and half my gas to get there, and I paid for books. For university it was mostly them. I worked in the summers, after I was settled in the "college life" I had some jobs during the year. But, after 4 yrs of taking their money I decided to get a loan for my teaching credential. It was going to be another 3 semesters...yes, it takes a long time to be a teacher. Well, I was still taking their money for rent and food, LOL. So, I got a loan, taught for 2 yrs, and haven't been back in the classroom since. I stopped teaching when we moved to San Diego. Sadly after 2 yrs I was already burnt out. It is common. I believe the statistic is 50% of teachers leave the profession in the first 5 yrs. Sad, very sad. I hate that I was a statistic, but I wasn't happy. I appreciate that I could recognize it but its still difficult when something you worked really hard for doesn't work out like you thought.

So, for the last 9 years we have been paying my credential loan, but I only taught for 2. The good news is that its over. Done. And now that money can go to Ryan's preschool tuition.