debt-consolidation

With the semester in full swing and having all of my work caught up, I have a little bit of time to think about the heavier side of the whole college process.  I am not one of the kids that are in a lot of my classes who's parents are paying for their education.  My family just doesn't have that option.  They help me with some of the day to day provisions and stuff like that, but they just can't afford to pay for the extremely high cost the school's tuition.  So it's up to me to work out all of the student loan, scholarship, and grant stuff.  The biggest problem for me now is that I haven't gotten a huge amount of grants or scholarships and I have racked up a sizable debt.  Lately I have been looking in to different plans for debt consolidation, so that I am not smashing in to that wall when I graduate and they expect me to start paying it off right away.  I mean I do only have about nine more months before I will have to make my first payment and I have taken loans from about six different sources.  My credit isn't good enough for me to even apply for a credit card anymore so that option is out at this point.   So I think my only option is to begin looking for a good job now and try to  debt consolidation as soon as possible before I'm drowning in it.

So other than that whole issue my semester is going great so far.  I don't think I have to worry about not meeting any of the stipulations of my grant and for my major.  It is really beginning to feel like the end now because every day my friends and I think that 'this will be the last time we do this,' every time we go to a school event or a party.  It's not as sad as I thought it would be when I finally got here.  I am just really excited for the next step and trying to enjoy where I am at as best I can, living debt free.