The Best Way to Pay off $90,000 of Student Loans Fast

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The year is 2018. I'm sitting at an old wooden table in UCF's John C. Hitt library. It's somewhere around 10 pm. The yellow lights give the place a ghostly feel. Other than the Janitor and a couple of other students sparsed between the empty tables, the place is empty.

I'm looking at the screen in front of me. I've changed my major more times than any dispassionate college advisor would "advise" you to do. With graduation coming up in a year, the reality is staring me in the face. I've spent the last 3 years trying to figure out what I like and what I might be good at, to what seems like no avail. Political science? Actuarial science? Finance? It feels like I've tried it all at this point. I just can't seem to find something that clicks for me. Maybe it's the subject matter that's keeping me from committing to a major, but the fact that's yelling louder than any other in the room is this: I signed up to take out $90,000 of student loans at the age of 18, and no one is coming to save me.

It's a story that most of the public University population shares with me. The only difference between me and the majority is that I had no interest in letting them sit to accrue interest over the years under the guise of an "income-adjusted graduated payment schedule". Being a First-Gen American, I'd self-studied personal finance through authors like Dave Ramsey and Robert Kiyosaki to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes my mom unknowingly did.

So here I am, one year away from graduating, getting real with the fact that I owe the government $90,000. I've spent months studying mathematical probability scenarios with the plan to become an Actuarial Scientist - a career that ties your earnings directly to the exams you pass. Making sure my effort is aligned with my pay is driving me. Months of trying to answer mind-numbing questions like "in a bag, there are 5 red balls and 7 black balls. What is the probability of getting a black ball?" only to accept that that's just not me.

**Enter: Sales.**

Luckily, I am accepted into a prestigious program (Go PSP!) that trains students how to sell complex B2B products. The clock is ticking. I'm leading our team at the International Collegiate Sales Competition five months before payments begin. Picture young college students being thrown into a pressure-filled room with a timed camera in the corner recording their every move, to be broadcasted live in a room full of contestants who'd failed over the past week. Pressure. Tick-tock.

I meet an Oracle recruiter at the event (admittedly, because there was candy on their table, and I'm eyeing the chocolate). We get into a conversation and I learn about a software called ERP. After doing research, it seems like a perfect fit for what I want to sell. I conclude that selling ERP will teach me how businesses gain revenue, reduce their costs, and manage their employees, all while speaking to CEOs, CFOs, CIOs, and COOs about their business goals. More importantly, at this time, I saw a path to pay off my student loans fast.

The BDR program paid decently, but I saw a path to get to the Account Executive role fast. After 10 Months of putting my head down and working, I made it happen. (Glad I didn't buy the story that other software companies were trying to sell me about the "value of being a BDR for 18-24 Months"). As those 10 months passed by, I was making the minimum payments on the student loans, and putting any bonus towards them to chip away. It still felt like I was chipping at the surface of a huge boulder, only scraping off bits and pieces.

**Enter: Oracle NetSuite Account Executive.**

So... how do you pay off $90,000 of Student Loans Fast, if no one is coming to save you?

1. Accept that no one is coming to save you, and interest is not your friend.
2. Find a sales team with great leadership and surround yourself with people who are willing to coach you.
3. Be coachable.
4. Listen and ask more questions than you speak statements.
5. Measure and prove the ROI of your solution.
6. Make a plan.
7. Work your plan.
8. Share what you've learned with others.

In the world of deferred payments, be different. The weight that feels lifted off your shoulders is worth it. The awards and recognition that come as a byproduct feel good. The extra cash you'll have to invest in fun times and setting your future-self up for success feels better. The skills and love for the work you'll gain can't be taken away. Just do it. Say no to Student Loans. (Pay them.)