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Hunter2
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Joined: 23/October/2003
Location: Canada
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 6:49am |
cyn66
oh I am sorry what a terrible cycle. Venting does make one feel better and we are here to listen and help anyway we can.
i agree with you about depression and CFS not being recognized as actual illnesses, its terrible especially when they are so debilitating. Is there anyway you could do freelance work that might allow you a more flexible schedule? I too lost myself in school a bit, became a crutch of sorts so I empathize with your fear in that department. Poly has a great point about looking at it in smaaller chunks...might be less overwhelming that way.
pretzel_logic
The whole ten years thing seems like even more of a life sentence if what is often insinuated on this board proves to be true. That is that no one ever has this crap discharged...ever. Talk about cruel and unusual punishment for those of us who cannot pay.
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SolveStudentDebt
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Joined: 05/November/2003
Location: Canada
Points: 5996
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 7:00am |
Hi Hunter2,
It is not that "no one" will have their student loans discharge.
Those who are examined, are considered as having acted in good faith, have demonstrated hardship through extenuating circumstances that is and will continue to occur, then they would be discharged without question.
If a person is trying to escape the responsibility by riding the bankruptcy bicycle, then they will not be discharged.
Johnny
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Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting. solvestudentdebt.com
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lola
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Joined: 21/February/2005
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 7:52am |
cynn66
I am sorry that things have been so difficult for you.
When I finally decided to go back to school( as an divorced single
mother) the program I decided on was from the advice of a friend
who was dying at the time. He said "If you didn't have to earn
money, what would you spend your time doing?" We had gone to
school together since elementary school, so I couldn't s#!t him.
So my studies reflected this inborn attraction to my field. I took out
student loans and successfully completed my studies. Now I don't
make a lot of money in my field, but I work on my own time, and am
happy in my work. No, I LOVE my work. My friend passed on about
10 years ago, but not a day goes by that I don't thank him for
assisting me in seeing my road happiness. And it was so simple.
Life is simple. We complicate it with things which are non-existent.
Our deluded views about how "useless" or "deadbeat" or "unfocused"
we are keep us from what we are really meant to do.
Stop worrying about what others think, and look into your heart and
assess what would make you a happy contributng member of
society. Then use the skills you have gained in your studies and
experience to make yourself happy. When you are happy it will be
reflected by those around you.
Chin up! By the looks of your academics you can go in almost any
direction.
What would you do if you didn't have to earn a living? Honestly.
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Lola
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SolveStudentDebt
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 2:24pm |
Hunter2
You have raised a very valid argument regarding specific illnesses
The illnesses CFS and depression are VERY debilitating therefore they should be recognized. Why aren't they? Medical doctors and Psychiatrists have diagnosed and profiled these diseases as debilitating. How can the governments say that these diseases would not have any relationship with hardship?
Depression is not recognized mainly because it is so common thus so many people suffer from it. If they recognized depression as a hardship, and allowed loans to be forgiven due to the debilitating nature of this illness, then they would have to dismiss a large percentage of their loans due to hardship.
Sure, there are many different types of depression, however, they all have one thing in common. They are debilitating no matter how one slices it.
Johnny
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Solve Student Debt specializes in solutions for students and graduates in student loan default, and those at risk of defaulting. solvestudentdebt.com
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silence2long
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Joined: 10/January/2005
Location: Canada
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 5:29pm |
Lola,
I know what I would be doing if I did not have to make money to survive...........
I would be baking cookies.....sewing.......scrapbooking.....painting .... reading novels.........growing a garden......cleaning my house and other household chores.....having a lovely little nappy in the afternoon........preparing a nutritious supper ....helping the kids with homework....running them to their activities....reading bedtime stories... and my list could go on... and on !!! (Two days a week is simply not enough time to cram it all in--Sat & Sun)
Don't get me wrong........I love my job....but I would volunteer what I do now to a certain degree....... as well as other volunteer jobs in my community. I didn't mind being a stay-at-home mom in the past... I rather enjoyed it..... and miss it !!!! Only I have to make money....... no choice here. ( Before it was due to lack of employment opportunities)
So to all those that have the opportunity to be at home.... I am wishing you the best, enjoy it while you are there.
I went to school the first time to pursue the dreams.....I pursued what truly made me happy...... unfortunately it didn't cut it... couldn't obtain financing to further the dreams..... so now it is just an occassional hobby interest that I do when I have the time. I had to re-school and get a different job........... fortunately for me it was runner-up career.... and I do love it.... as well as feel blessed to have full-time employment for the time being.
Could I grow old doing it.. I think so !!! When I got into this career, I asked myself........Do I have to do it for the rest of my life?? My answer was NO..........NO.........NO, not if I did'nt want too !!!
Until the kids finish school..... that would be nice, then decide from there. So I have basically chunked my life at this point, and that does seem to get me through. There are times that I count the days until the weekend.....or even chunk a day to get through it...when I am really stressed out. It seems to make the time go faster. I am thankful for life and seasons that chunk it for us... we are quite a chunky society !!! It is all around us..all the time.
We all just happen to be in the student debt stress chunk of it. I think that I really need to stop stressing about it as much as I am... and go read that novel... or bake those cookies.... paint a picture... and forget about it for small chunks of time..........because I myself suffer from OCD.........and I am starting to obsess a little too much on all this student debt.....and it is really wearing me down. These days I am thinking about it way tooooooooo much !!!
I need a break.......... Deep down......I know that I will get through it........I have gotten through it thus far.....amazingly so !!! I will continue to rise and shine.......
Catch you all later !!!!
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silence is a form of fear...fear of the unknown...has kept me silent too long
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Hunter2
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 5:33pm |
Johnny..I see what you mean. In such a case who exactly does the "examining" to determine hardship? Is there any type of pre existing criteria they go by or is it a subjective case by case approach?
I think...as far as the illnesses go that CFS/depression/fubro..can all be very diffuse with a large range from mild to severe. There are also no black&white tests to "prove" these conditions exist therefore the gov't does not recognize them.
lola..... ......
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administrator
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Posted: 27/February/2005 at 10:32pm |
there is a test for CFS... they have found that certain hormones messed in CFS. Here's the link
"Researchers found that people with CFS produced unusually high levels of the hormone melatonin, which stimulates the immune system and plays an important role in promoting sleep. "
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/117791.stm
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momof2
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 3:11am |
Mark
thanks for the link - an interesting article to discuss with my doc.
wrt diagnosis of fibro, OCD, CFS, depression, etc being considered a disability, there is a listing of "diseases and conditions" that CPP-disability uses which is updated each year - fibro . there is an adjudication process for having your app reviewed, so it is a case by case scenario.
goto http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/isp/pub/cpp/disability/5threport/5 thpg11.shtml
hardest part is justifying the lack of CPP contributions if your health stinks and you can't work so that they will still consider your app .
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professionals built the titanic but amateurs built the ark...
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Hunter2
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 5:03am |
Mark..thanks for the link..thats news to me! 3 years ago when I was told I had CFS and Fibro my doc said there was really no way of "proving" either one. Meanwhile I had undergone every test known to man because "some" of my symptoms(numbness..dropping things...ect) indicated MS.
Thats really interesting.
Momof2..that IS the worst is justifying to some 'crat that you are "ill" enough. The reange for CFS is so wide and I still believe if you have a medical professional saying you are unable to function 9-5 that should be enough.
silence2long
Wow..that sound lovely but its not indicative of my reality in staying at home. I only have one child in school and my days are spent nursing/cleaning/laundring/cooking. Yes I do play with my 2 kids at home, bake with them on occasion, and do homework with the eldest but painting? Scrapbooking? reading? napping?...not likely.
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pretzel_logic
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 7:32am |
Okay... but that would imply you almost need some medical anomaly to ever get discharged. When you and I know that out there it is not the case. People go bankrupt every day and they may not necessarily strike you as handicapped, destitute or needy in any way noticeable.
And it seems you are implying that the discrimination students face as borrowers would go on in different forms, under a five-year rule and that the burden of proof on hardship would still be higher for students than for anyone else. And that would render any effort to curb down the discrimination between borrowers useless but for a few somehow proven (physically or mentally) handicapped among us.
And that leads me to depression. Like there's always a way to stay on topic, eh?
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momof2
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 8:55am |
speaking of depression, here's fuel for the fire...
got reassessed on my 2003 taxes. no sweat. an extra 51 bucks in income ( how is it the bank of canada forgets where i live ??), changed nothing. fine. open hubbys - he now owes 266 bucks because of tuition transfer credits that can't be transferred ( insert groan here).
we have no choice but to let the interest accrue on the outstanding debt until i can do this years taxes and itll come off his refund. plus my oil bill is 233 bucks this month. and i got a notice from collectcorp in the mail regarding an overdue visa - happy monday to me.
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professionals built the titanic but amateurs built the ark...
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Hunter2
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 8:55am |
pretzel_logic
I am not implyimg either that you need to be sick or that the burden of proof should be higher in order for students to be discharged..
I do not believe medical reasons should be the only way a sl debtor should be discharged....all debtors should be treated the same.
The suggestion here is that under the current tyranny that at the very least if someone is ill that should exempt them from payment or allow for relief until they are well enough to work.
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Hunter2
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 9:08am |
Aww mom...that sucks.We did the same thing last year, our reassesment put us higher and we had to wait til the refund this year to pay it back! Don't let it stress u too much.
I keep my fingers crossed for you that at the very least the sl problems get sorted out and it has a trickle down effect on other issues!
Chin up dear!
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pretzel_logic
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Posted: 28/February/2005 at 10:17am |
dad of two here. so mom of 2 I can relate with, sort of.
It was worse back when your debt went to your kids upon death, not so long ago actually. Yes, speaking of the psychological burden of debt, it was especially tough to live with the fact that my children would inherit my debt. Depressive tendencies, yes, always but now I had to survive at all cost.
And there was relief, and as Alexa McDonough so elegantly put, we applaud the government for that measure. It's just not enough by itself. But big big weight off the shoulders there, huge.
Johnny, don't bum me out now.
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reddragon
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Posted: 01/March/2005 at 8:33am |
Higher education... Any idea what this student loan problem has
created? Suicide, depression, illness... I start to understand
why a lot of students are forced into making unethical decisions about
their lives. Who wants to live this way? Credit ruined, up
to your neck in debt and no way out. By the time you can afford
to finish paying, you're over 40 and so depressed and tired and
disinterested in having a family. Especially if you're a
woman. Then you need to worry about how stable your career is if
you want to have kids, I mean divorce rate is now around 50%...
I can understand why your neighbour took that route. It's just a little too tempting.
I wish I knew before I took out the loans. I'd have opted to work at McDonalds full-time instead.
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momof2
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Posted: 01/March/2005 at 10:41am |
if i knew then what i know now i would have stuck with my retail management job. at least i wouldn't have 30K in SL's...
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professionals built the titanic but amateurs built the ark...
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reddragon
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Posted: 02/March/2005 at 8:21am |
I guess the only thing is to be born lucky...
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SolveStudentDebt
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Posted: 03/March/2005 at 9:00am |
The best thing is to become aware.
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reddragon
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Posted: 04/March/2005 at 6:01am |
I am aware. I'm aware that if you're poor, it's very expensive to stay alive.
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mesonic
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Posted: 04/March/2005 at 9:58am |
reddragon wrote:
I am aware. I'm aware that if you're poor, it's very expensive to stay alive. |
I agree.
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