the price of being debt-free

“I didn’t see you as human” is how she described my work ethic in college. As if balancing jobs and passing classes to graduate on time were robotic. I remember laughing — it was an odd thing to say to me two years later, over drinks, as we were celebrating me paying off my student loans. Except she wasn’t celebrating. “Supportive” friends go to your graduation, right? Over time, I learned to empathize with her — my single Mom raised me to go after what I want on my own dime. Ambition is my power. Hard work and passion make me human.