At this point in the semester, we are all probably stressed out with the amount of homework, reading, and studying we already have to do. Because of this, many bank accounts are depleting to that lovely number zero very fast because of the amount of food we are buying. And to add to all of that stress, some students may possibly be worrying about making their payments for their tuition or watching the numbers pile up on the student loans that we have stacked up so far. Well, I am very fortunate to be able to say this; I am not that stressed about my classes and I do not have any student loans what so ever and I couldn't be more satisfied with it.

I graduated my high school in 2014, and the typical student does their Bachelor's in four years, so theoretically I should be done with my degree in the spring of 2018. However, because I have been going to my local community college part time, I definitely will not be a part of any graduating class for 2018 and I am completely fine with that. Why, may you ask? I will have next to little student debt even after I transfer schools to a full four-year college. You may be wondering how that's possible or thinking to yourself that I must get a TON of financial aid. But truth be told, I get zero financial aid at my community college and I probably won't get that much when I transfer. This was made possible because I am starting out at the community college and taking as many classes I can afford at a time so I can work out payment plans so I can pay for my semester in four chunks. I have also planned so accordingly with the college that I am transferring to that I will go full time when I am there and load up on classes so I am only there for about a year. This has helped tremendously because I will not be paying for that many semesters at the four-year college that I am transferring to and they also have a cheaper tuition compared to most four-year college because it is a technical school.

All of this has made college not nearly as stressful as it is for most students. The average amount of debt per student in Pennsylvania that goes to a state school is about $33,264 as of 2014. I know many of my other friends that will be graduating with about $75,000 in debt because they changed majors a couple of times and that messed up a number of credits they had earned toward their other degree. I know that I would not want to get out of college with that amount of debt because I will already be stressed about all of the new things in life, like working full time, running a business, and even more responsibilities. I would also hope to purchase my own home when I move out of my parent's house and I know that I could not mentally do that if I had a substantial amount of student loans to pay off.

So yes, in the end, it may take me more than four years to graduate college, but I will graduate with a good degree and not much debt and already have at least six years of experience in my field of study. So my word to students who are looking at college, I would start out at a community college and take as many classes at a time that you can afford and then transfer to a four-year college or university and you won't have as much debt or stress.