Graduate student secretly lived in a van on the student Parco Bashny.Net

Graduate student secretly lived in a van in the student parking lot in the United States, not to get into another credit bondage.

In 2005, when Ken Ilgunas learned last year undergraduate at the University of Buffalo, he had no idea what a debt hole it would soon be.

His specialty (English and history) was one of the most unclaimed in the labor market, and after 25 calls to different companies to ask for admission to a paid internship and 25 failures, respectively, he had no hope of employment in the profession.

"At that time it served as a kind of 'call', - says Ken. - I hung on this huge debt of 32 thousand dollars, and I rode the trolley in Home Depot stores for $ 8 an hour. Frankly, I was much panic ».

At that time, student loans have not yet been surrounded by that notoriety that they have today. Ilgunas could delay payment or declare a temporary insolvency, or just ask their parents in debt (which, incidentally, were more than willing to help him). At worst he could attend graduate school and wait until the labor market will come out of the crisis.





Instead, Ken moved to Alaska and worked there for two years to pay off the loan. Then he enrolled in graduate school Duke University and all the training time was living in a van in the student parking lot, to again be in debt.

"When I took the credit, and I could not think what to subscribe. I was only 17 years old and I did not even know what percentage of it is set, - says Ken. - My example, I think, very clearly shows how the low level of awareness of the financial system are young people in our country in this age ».

Ken knew exactly where to go to work: summer before the final year he spent in Alaska, where he worked on a remote parking lot for trucks. So he phoned his old friends, who promised him a job as a tour guide and cook (in fact, the work was a generalist and was performed by the different needs of local residents).

"The very next day after my release I flew to Alaska and immediately after arrival went to work - says Ken. - In spite of my ignorance, I was nevertheless aware that if I do not deal with our debts, I expect a large amount of accrued interest or charges of violating debt. So I would like to pay off the loan as quickly as it was physically possible ».

For 20-year-old graduate, who urgently need to pay off the debt, moving to Alaska was a great solution. "The place where I work is 250 miles from the nearest shop, accommodation and meals are included, the mobile was not, - says Ken. - You'd be surprised at how much money you can save if you lower the level of your life. In the end, it turned out that almost every dollar I earned went to pay off my student loan ».

Ken worked for a year in Alaska for $ 9 an hour, and he was able to pay more than 18 thousand dollars on the loan. Then he hitchhiked got to New York, where he began at six-month contract AmeriCorps volunteer in Mississippi.

But the new job paid little, and at the end of the contract, he went back to the North: "I again settled into Coldfoot, this time in the Reserve Ranger Gates of the Arctic. Finally, I began to get a good salary ».

After two and a half years after leaving for work, Ken made his last payment on the loan. With the total amount of its interest payments amounted to 35 thousand dollars.



After that, he wanted to continue their education. "During my travels, I thought to myself two things - says Ken. - First, I have never in my life I will not go into debt, and second, I will study further. All the time I was away, I had intellectual hunger, my speech and writing much worse ».

On the way home, he decided to enroll in any available humanitarian program, which will pay for itself in the future. He stopped at Duke University, where he took $ 2,500 per semester.

He needed to find a place with a minimum rent, and he remembered a man with whom he met in Alaska. He lived in his car throughout the year and was quite satisfied with his life. "I thought if he could live like that in the wild north, surely I can do it as well in North Carolina" - says Ken.

When the site Craigslist Ken came across an advertisement for the sale of Ford Econoline 1994 of release for $ 1,500, he knew that this car would be his new home.

Posted in [mergetime] 1389096930 [/ mergetime]
"Sometimes at night it was very cold, the temperature reached 10 degrees (Fahrenheit, Celsius, respectively -12 - approx. Perevodch.). On those nights I wore thermal underwear and climbed into the sleeping bag and slept just fine ».



+++

Posted in [mergetime] 1389096977 [/ mergetime]
Ken had only one semester, but the money was running out, and live in the Duke had a few more months. Therefore, Ken began to earn "lab rat" and took part in at least twenty-medical experiments, for which paid 10 to 20 dollars an hour, during which he scanned the brains, forced to swallow the experimental drug and studied his cognitive functions.

Posted in [mergetime] 1389097003 [/ mergetime]
But in the end it all paid off in prison. Ken has successfully completed postgraduate studies in May 2011 and is not owed a cent.

"Some students feel your student loan something of insurance, such payments that they have to do every month. For me, it is a heavy burden - an obligation which does not live a full life. "

Posted in [mergetime] 1389097043 [/ mergetime]
Currently, Ken still lives in North Carolina, where he is working on his second book about his six-month journey along the pipeline Keystone Pipeline. (Van still at it!).

pora-valit.livejournal.com/2002846.html - here.



Source: