It’s difficult enough entering into the real world without having to worry about paying back thousands upon thousands of dollars in student loans in the years after we graduate. It’s best to think of that money as an investment more than an evil, insurmountable debt that is going to be attached to our backs for years. But there are some options to lessen that weight in the forms of loan forgiveness.

If you aren’t familiar with the process, loan forgiveness is the cancellation of all or part of your student loans if you decide to go into certain charitable fields for a certain amount of time. Below is a list of some areas that offer loan forgiveness, but it’s not comprehensive. In fact, if you go into some sort of public service upon graduation, it wouldn’t hurt to consult the Human Resources department to see if your job qualifies for the program. Also, the military offers numerous loan repayment programs.

Volunteering
Americorps A year of service gets you up to a $7400 stipend and around $4500 to use against a loan.
Peace Corps Volunteers can get a loan deferment and up to 70% loan cancellation. Read More »

When my newest roommate moved into the house, it didn’t take me long to notice that she is a remarkably bright lady. She’s not that nerd who’s only book smart, either. She is well versed in just about…everything…and incredibly articulate. However, I never thought that her smarts had anything to do with the fact that she’s Finnish until recently.

According to new studies, Finnish teenagers are some of the smartest teenagers in the world, and yet, these kids aren’t nerds who do nothing but study. They seem to waste about the same amount of time surfing the web and obsessing over music as we in America do. They don’t seem to take anything any more seriously than anyone else. Yet somehow, they are far ahead in subjects like math, science, and reading by the time they’re fifteen years old. Read More »

Coffee became my addiction in college. I was completely unable to start my day unless I had a large cup of Dunkin Donuts brew in my hand. It helps me focus and gives me something to sip on during class. I think it’s more of a therapeutic thing for me…Like somehow the world would be okay as long as I had my soothing cup of coffee to start the day.

But, I am aware that drinking so much caffeine may not be very healthy for me in the long run. So, I have been trying to drink more tea lately, since it has a lot of healthy benefits. I’ve also noticed that tea has really grown in popularity, at least on my campus it has become sort of trendy. If you are a tea lover, you might want to check out The Calm-a-Sutra of Tea Scholarship Competition (what a great name!)

Basically, all you have to do is create a 1-2 minute internet video of yourself drinking tea in the most unique or unusual scenario, upload the video to youtube, and send in the link. If you win, you will get a $20,000 scholarship, an all expense paid trip to NYC, and afternoon tea at a trendy New York tea place.

Bottoms up!