Actually 'just filed' is misleading, as we actually file a week from tomorrow, but my paperwork is 100% done, I took the counseling class, my fees are paid, etc. Essentially, at this point, it's all over but the waiting.
Anyway, my story starts when I was a college student. I attended college on a four-year ROTC full tuition scholarship which also paid a monthly stipend. My first experience with credit was obtaining an Amex Student card to replace my POS laptop sometime during my sophomore year. Paid it off, no problems, etc. Eventually though, I started to be more and more irresponsible with the card and buying things I didn't really need.
Things got worse a year or two later when I decided I needed to upgrade my TV as I moved into my first one bedroom apartment by myself. I eventually got myself into a nice little chunk of debt, but nothing that my eventual lieutenant's salary wouldn't take care of - or so I thought.
Eventually I got hurt during physical training for ROTC, had two surgeries on my hand, and was laid up for almost 7 months. I was on doctor's orders not to run or do strenuous exercise while recovering, and ended up getting very out of shape during the recovery period. Several months after the second surgery, the army decided they had had enough of waiting for me to get back into good enough shape and disenrolled me from the program - meaning I lost my scholarship and my monthly stipend. They are also mandating that I pay back every cent they gave me for tuition and books for 3.5 years of out of state tuition.
To make things worse, my parents went through a messy divorce during this time, which had already put me into an emotional tailspin.
I got a job relatively quickly, but I was not able to pay my credit debts at that point and also pay rent, utilities, etc. I quickly defaulted on my cards. I got some help from my parents, but not enough to solve my problems. I also was not honest with them about my real situation. To this day, they do not know about my bankruptcy or how much debt I stupidly got in myself. The very worst part of it is that I was unable to pay for my last semester of tuition, and have not received my degree. My parents and brothers still think I earned my degree in December of '09.
I was very fortunate that I was able to land a job that ordinarily would require a BA by explaining my situation and why I don't have a degree, which helps, but the pay is not great by any means. The bad news is that the Department of Defense garnished my wages, which they can do because the government does not require a judgement to garnish your wages.
My lawyer and I have done fairly extensive research, and we believe that the tuition debt is very likely dischargeable in Ch 7, and of course all my unsecured debt will be discharged. The ROTC scholarship debt is less likely to be discharged, but still possible.
So if things go according to plan, I will FINALLY receive my hard-earned Bachelor's of Economics in May or August. I already feel like a huge weight is starting to lift from my shoulders, but I can't even begin to imagine the feeling when I get that damn piece of paper 3 years after I should have. These last few years have been an absolute hell for me. The injury, the divorce of my parents, going through a bad breakup myself, the debts, the non stop collections calls for what seemed like forever, the not being able to rent a nice apartment because of my credit, etc. I can honestly say for the first time in years that things are looking up for me.
Anyway, my story starts when I was a college student. I attended college on a four-year ROTC full tuition scholarship which also paid a monthly stipend. My first experience with credit was obtaining an Amex Student card to replace my POS laptop sometime during my sophomore year. Paid it off, no problems, etc. Eventually though, I started to be more and more irresponsible with the card and buying things I didn't really need.
Things got worse a year or two later when I decided I needed to upgrade my TV as I moved into my first one bedroom apartment by myself. I eventually got myself into a nice little chunk of debt, but nothing that my eventual lieutenant's salary wouldn't take care of - or so I thought.
Eventually I got hurt during physical training for ROTC, had two surgeries on my hand, and was laid up for almost 7 months. I was on doctor's orders not to run or do strenuous exercise while recovering, and ended up getting very out of shape during the recovery period. Several months after the second surgery, the army decided they had had enough of waiting for me to get back into good enough shape and disenrolled me from the program - meaning I lost my scholarship and my monthly stipend. They are also mandating that I pay back every cent they gave me for tuition and books for 3.5 years of out of state tuition.
To make things worse, my parents went through a messy divorce during this time, which had already put me into an emotional tailspin.
I got a job relatively quickly, but I was not able to pay my credit debts at that point and also pay rent, utilities, etc. I quickly defaulted on my cards. I got some help from my parents, but not enough to solve my problems. I also was not honest with them about my real situation. To this day, they do not know about my bankruptcy or how much debt I stupidly got in myself. The very worst part of it is that I was unable to pay for my last semester of tuition, and have not received my degree. My parents and brothers still think I earned my degree in December of '09.
I was very fortunate that I was able to land a job that ordinarily would require a BA by explaining my situation and why I don't have a degree, which helps, but the pay is not great by any means. The bad news is that the Department of Defense garnished my wages, which they can do because the government does not require a judgement to garnish your wages.
My lawyer and I have done fairly extensive research, and we believe that the tuition debt is very likely dischargeable in Ch 7, and of course all my unsecured debt will be discharged. The ROTC scholarship debt is less likely to be discharged, but still possible.
So if things go according to plan, I will FINALLY receive my hard-earned Bachelor's of Economics in May or August. I already feel like a huge weight is starting to lift from my shoulders, but I can't even begin to imagine the feeling when I get that damn piece of paper 3 years after I should have. These last few years have been an absolute hell for me. The injury, the divorce of my parents, going through a bad breakup myself, the debts, the non stop collections calls for what seemed like forever, the not being able to rent a nice apartment because of my credit, etc. I can honestly say for the first time in years that things are looking up for me.
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