Here's the Story..

Hi.  My name is Elle.  At least, that's what you can call me.  I'm 24 years old.

I'm going to blog about my life being roughly $87,000 in debt in student loans.  With a B.A. in Anthropology.

But to be clear, this isn't a "woe is me, my life sucks with this debt," blog.  I do not want, need, or feel entitled to anybody's sympathy.  I've made my choices, and have no regrets.

No, this is going to be where I explore what I'm going to do to help pay off this debt, how to save money, and all that good stuff.  I'm doing this because I know there are a lot of people in the same boat, and maybe I can help.  Or at least make people feel less alone.

Now, I'm lucky.  I have a full-time, well paying job.  I'm living with my parents, so I don't pay rent.  They let me drive their car, so pretty much the only bills I have are basic living expenses (food, gas, etc.) and student loan payments.  I'm in a pretty good place.  No complaints.

But I do have goals, hopes, and dreams.  So I need to start trying really hard to put a dent in these loans, so I can start to move on with my life.

Here are a few things on the list I would like to do:

- Teach English in Korea, or other foreign country
- Join the Peace Corps
- Make documentaries
- Write

Of course, the last two I could do in my downtime, away from work.  But the first two, I really want to work towards.

I know we live in a time where we're supposed to want things like a house, a car, and other normal-people stuff.

I will tell you now, I'm not really normal.  I just want to travel, learn people's stories, and share them with the world.  And help people out where I can.

My coworkers say I'm a hippie.  They may be partially right, except I work hard, don't do drugs, and shower regularly.

So that's my story.  More to come.