Destroying The Educated American Family, One Member At A Time

This testimonial from a mother of two daughters illustrates the way in which medical problems can be devastating when people owe student loan debt. This particular family owes multiple debts (the mother has an BA and an MA, the daughters have degrees, as does the father), and further substantiates my argument that the student lending crisis is an inter-generational problem. Her words are a quiet protest of how this crisis is destroying the lives of good, hard-working, educated American families. I read this note shortly before I left for work and tried to stop crying on the way to school on the bus (I get stared at enough - tears would've made me more of a spectacle). I have included most of our correspondence below (names have been changed to protect the family's privacy).


So, this morning, I opening this email from Mrs. Q explaining her family's predicament:

Dear Cryn,

I admire you for all that you're doing regarding student debt.


Our story is probably not too different from most, but there are a couple of unique things I can tell you.

I have 2 daughters, Angela, 27 & Maria, 24. When Angie was 16 (after 4 other heart surgeries) she had a heart transplant .  .  . more unrelated surgeries for medical problems & last year a kidney transplant; Maria was the donor.


Now, after Angie had the heart transplant & gallbladder out, she went to community college with [her sister.] Because she missed so much time at school she was behind. She had her heart set on going to DePaul in Chicago & Maria went too. We had no reason to believe they would have difficulty getting jobs. Both majored in business & did well. They graduated in 2008 & had no job prospects. . . no calls on resumes. Then came the news that Angie was in end-stage renal failure. She was literally dying. . . again . . . in front of our eyes. Finally, April/2009, she received the much-needed kidney. As they recovered, they began looking for jobs again. Angie finally got a job in the fall of  '09, at a facility for mentally/physically disabled people, but not doing anything related to business & making very little money. Maria borrowed $2,000, got a nail tech license, & got a job almost immediately upon getting her license.


Problem is that they were out of work for so long & my husband lost his job due to illness & was also out of work for a year . . . I was supporting all of us. I filed bankruptcy due to medical bills & we went into foreclosure, which I got us out of . . . though not sure that was a great idea. Oh, yeah . . . I am a breast cancer survivor of 4 years . . . in the middle of everything, I had to go through chemo, radiation, & other treatments (lumpectomy was first).


I've tried negotiating with Direct Loans & they are of very little help. I can barely keep up with everything. We shouldn't have cell phones, but I need to be reachable for medical issues. There are so many things we've cut back on & it makes little or no difference.


It is so exhausting and frustrating because we are responsible people and want to meet our obligations. It has destroyed my faith in the educational system because they will take money from anyone & have no responsibility in guiding students into majors where they can find jobs.


I support you in your efforts and will do anything I can to help out.


Thanks for your time,


Mrs. Q

While I wouldn't say I'm hardened because of the thousands of stories I read from all the student loan debtors who've reached to me by now, I am certainly beyond the stage of crying in the way I used to last summer. But in this case, my sadness for this family got the best of me, and I was already in tears after reading the second paragraph. On top of that, I was angry as hell. For those individuals who accuse student loan debtors of being lazy or buying extravagant things, this woman is suggesting she shouldn't have a cell phone and justifying it because of her medical problems. For God sake's is owning a cell phone really such a luxury? I dare someone to tell me it is. Moreover, how is it people like this are struggling to make ends meet, and why isn't the Administration doing anything to help them? I'm really at a loss. I mean, are they just callous or too aloof from being enclosed by the friggin' beltway? Although I was running late to school (on my own schedule) and had to tend to a new pup, I wrote Mrs. Q back immediately. Here's what I said:

Dear Mrs. Q,


Many thanks for writing to me and sharing such personal things. I have to admit, I'm having a hard time responding right now, because your email stirred so many emotions within me. It saddens me to read that you and your family have been through such hardship, and it makes me more determined than ever to fight even harder for change.


It is understandable that you have lost faith in the education system in the U.S. As you know firsthand, it's caused your family nothing but heartache. But it's also disheartening that you have - I hold higher education in high regard, and do not think that obtaining degrees should come with such a heavy cost.


I won't give up fighting. You and your family deserve better, and it's a shame that the way in which higher education must be financed in the U.S. forces people like you to suffer.


Let me know if I may post your story.


Thanks.


Kind regards,
Cryn

Mrs. Q responded immediately:

Cryn, 


Thank you for taking time to read our story. I would love for you to post it . . . It is hard for me to reconcile my feelings about higher education, as I have both a bachelors & masters in speech/language pathology & have always thought that a college education was very important. Interestingly, though not at the time, we had a huge fight on our hands with the hospital, last year, because Angela was under-insured & they kept waffling about whether or not they would perform the transplant. Now she fights with the insurance to pay for the anti-rejection meds. We've gotten so many breaks, with her health, yet it is a constant fight to keep on top of jobs & still make ends meet.


If you need, I would love to help you fight for this very worthwhile cause. Please let me know anything I can do to help.


Sincerely,

Mrs. Q

After reading this message and thinking about it during my breaks this evening (ironically, I am teaching a literature class and we're reading Grapes of Wrath), I kept asking myself over and over this evening: is this a fair and just America? Why are people like this being punished, and why is it nobody on the Hill or in the White House gives a damned? The questions returned again and again, and the intensity of their rhythm in my mind increased after viewing this great song clip with a montage of images from the 1920s and 1930s in class. It's the famous song, "Brother, can you spare me a dime?" (I encourage you to listen to it while reading this post, and then go back and watch it with the images)

I wish we could convince policy makers to help these people immediately. Drastic changes are needed. But I fear that I will fight this battle until the day I die, and I'm not sure how much progress I'll be able to make for people like Mrs. Q and her family. As one reader aptly stated, on my post entitled, "Can we get anything right for hard-working Americans? Anything?"

Ms. Johannsen, you are on the start of a multi-decade movement. Significant education reform will take at least one generation's efforts to achieve. It is on the scale of achieving womens' sufferage [sic].


Even the recent health care and student loan reform took decades to achieve. Just remember that you are running a marathon, not a dash.


For those who don't remember, student loans have been non-dischargeable debt since the 1970s.


http://www.finaid.org/questions/bankruptcyexception.phtml 

Luckily, I am healthy and young, so I'm more than prepared to fight this battle for the rest of my life. People like Mrs. Q and her family remind me of why we must not give up.