Student Debt Inspires Justin Cox to "Rock Out"

In the United States, student debt is really getting out of hand. Even you have a part time job, spend your summers working, and receive financial aid, you pretty much need to take out loans unless you have a scholarship or parental support. And not everyone has those.

When you're 18, you don't realize how much your education actually costs when interest fees start to pile upon your principle balance. All of a sudden, you're 22 and $122,000 in debt. While it's easy for the patriarchs of yester-year to look down upon Generation Y -- "you should have worked or you should have gone to a cheaper school," it's difficult to grasp the magnitude of the situation unless you're actually living it. When you're in high school, if you're ambitious, your top priority is to attend a top university. Your world is all about finding an opportunity that enables you to pursue your passion-- and that opportunity is college. Why in the world should the cost stop us from something so profound? Is it only the wealthy who deserve higher education most?

Four years later, 30-50 classes smarter, and $122,000 deeper in a self-created hole, recent college grads found themselves in an economy that provided 1) limited well-paying work opportunities and 2) little hope of clearing their accrued educational expenses. We woke up, smelled the coffee, and realized that we're chained to lending agents for the rest of our adult lives. Those who were lucky enough to find reasonably-paying work were lucky enough to give up a huge chunk of our take-home pays to our debts. Then, there are the others who struggle, who defer, and who simply don't know what to do: if they'll ever buy a house, a car, or have children-- everything that their parents' generation had the opportunity to do.

Justin Cox, a musician, feels the pain, and decided to do something about it by leveraging his talents. He describes his payments as crippling and his situation as a rut. But still, at least once a week, he plays his guitar on the subway or in some other public place where he sets up a tip jar for extra loan-payment money.

The topic of student loans has been trending in the media, and when you read one of these blog posts, you inevitably start reading the comments. "You should have picked a major that mattered" or "You were stupid for going to school" are common responses that I frequently see when bloggers communicate their stories.

Well, Justin has one constructive counter argument. "Art"-- the most "useless" of disciplines actually has some potential. If you're artistic, make something out of it on the side, and "kick" that extra money towards your payments. Every little bit really does help. Plus, you'll be doing something that you enjoy.

Justin really has a point when it comes to one constructive solution. Yes, student debt is crippling, depressing, and horrible, and yes, many of us didn't see it coming. Even still, our creative talents are one potential way out. We just need to learn how to make the most of them.

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