I had a horrid day yesterday. I have been excitedly looking forward to beginning online courses with The University of Phoenix so I can work on earning my Associates Degree in Business...a first step towards my dream of owning a catering business. Much to my chagrin, I was informed that I have a student loan in default. What?!? I had requested that my loan be put into deferrment, so of course I was completely taken by surprise with this tidbit of information. Apparently the financial aid representative at the completely worthless trade school I attended (www.claritacareercollege.com) did NOT do as he promised and, therefore, my loan is now in Federal Default. What does that mean? It means that I cannot get another student loan as long as the default exists. It also means they will seize my tax refunds until the loan is no longer in default. I have only two options for getting the loan out of default:

1) Pay off the total amount, in excess of $8,000. YEAH RIGHT!!!
2) Set up automatic monthly payments in the amount of approximately $90. After NINE months of these monthly payments being made, the loan will no longer be in default and will be eligible for deferrment once again. Since I cannot afford an extra $90 a month, this is obviously not an option for me, either.

My dear mother, to whom I owe so very much, called me rather excited this evening when she got home from work. Her wonderful boss had come up with a genius of an idea - write a letter to my congressman!! It's an election year. They don't want ANY dissatisfied voters on their hands come November! I will spend Friday (my next day off) composing a letter that would make even a heart of stone weep at my plight. So, my dear family and friends, please pray that the letter I will place in the mail on Saturday touches the heart of a person who just may have the power to give this situation a happy ending.