rock bottom something miraculous hap-
pened. But then again, I wouldn’t have
been aware of these blessings if I hadn’t
been so desperate in the first place.”
“Apply for as many scholarships and
bursaries as possible,” Kits recommends.
“High grades do help with the financial
side of things, so do your best. Plan to
work full-time in the summer. And you
obviously shouldn’t choose what school
to go to based on tuition, but if you can
go to a less expensive one that’s just as
good, why not?”
“Be wise with your money,” advises
Clarke. “Sometimes you have to make
sacrifices. Occasionally you have to say
”no” to going out for dinner or to buying
something new. You can have fun, but
spend with moderation. I am glad that I
spent a few years being wise rather than
spending two to five years paying off stu-
dent loans. Now the money that I have is
mine to spend where I want it.”
Bokma worked 25 hours a week
through her undergraduate career, but still
won’t have her student debt paid off until
2011, nine years after graduation. “I wish
I would have had more saved, but I’m
not actually sure that would have been
an option,” she says. “I don’t regret the
student loans I took out to pay for school.
Would I have loved to do it all debt-free?
Absolutely. But I wouldn’t have been able
to afford university without debt, so I look
at it as the better option.” ft
Stephanie tombari of
burlington, Ont., is a contributing
writer at Faith Today.
