"Real World Applications"

It's hard as a high school student to believe our teachers when they tell you that the things you learn in these classes will have "real world applications."  As if somehow knowing that sideburns were made famous by and named after one General Burnside is going to help you later in life.  Knowing the main themes and symbolism in Lord of the Flies will definitely make girls want you more than dudes who think it's just a stupid book about some kids who are trapped on an island.  Knowing that bats' eyes are mostly just there for aesthetics since they use echolocation will help you work harder to close that account at your nine to five job that you took because it pays the bills.

They weren't entirely wrong.  They just didn't point out the real lessons there.  Maybe being able to connect things like General Burnside and sideburns will help you connect other dots between people.  Being able to comprehend and assess a book like Lord of the Flies may help you understand more of the legal jargon in court documents.  Knowing that bats' eyes are useless but still around may just help you get through that tough workday when you feel useless.  Who knows?

Today, though, I had a real taste of one of the less identified lessons from high school.  I applied for a forbearance on one of my students loans, as I just moved and am having to play catch up on some other more important bills.  The way they figure out if I qualify for a forbearance is if my total payment to them is more than or right at 20% of my monthly income.  That's fine and dandy, except that I'd have to be making less money for that to be true.  How much less? About as much as my other student loan payment.

Because I have two separate student loans through different companies, the fact that my monthly payments exceed more than 20% doesn't matter.  All they see is how much money is coming in, and how much of that goes towards their loans, nevermind the fact that I have another loan that costs more than theirs does.

Do you see where this is going?

In high school I had a teacher who liked to give essay assignments with no warning. He would just spring it on you, with no care about how well it worked into everything else you had assigned that day.  He didn't care either.  His class was all that mattered to him. Just like how he loan company couldn't care less if I have other bills to pay.

 The funny thing is, the only things I ever learned from him were life lessons like this.  I learned the word 'chromatography', but I'm pretty sure I couldn't tell you what it means.  What I can tell you though is that if you're struggling and need just a little leeway to get back on your feet, you certainly can't count on loan companies.