Why I Don’t Hate My Student Loans

Close-up of twenty-dollar bills

A couple of months ago, about eight years after graduating from law school, I used my tax refund to pay off the remainder of my law school loans.  It felt amazing.  I have a few student loans left from undergrad, and I’m on track to pay those in full by the end of this year.  (I paid the law school loans first because their interest rate was higher.) Watching the balances shrink as I’ve thrown money at them has been exhilarating, and I’m excited to be able to focus more on saving and meeting other big financial goals going forward.  I began attending college in 2002, and more than sixteen years later, I’m finally almost finished paying for it.

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Learning a New Language: Why You Should Do It, and How to Get Started

A word cloud of Greek words from a newspaper article

As I mentioned last weekend, I recently began studying the Greek language.  My husband and his family (who hail from Athens) had previously taught me a few basic words, but until a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t tried to learn the language in any disciplined way.  The main reason is that my husband and his mother, sister, and brother-in-law all speak English, so I can communicate with them just fine in my own native language.

Still, that felt a bit lazy on my part.  And now that we are planning a trip to Greece, I want to be able to read street signs, say hello to any non-English speakers I encounter, and ask the kinds of questions one often needs to ask when traveling.  My husband will be there to translate for me, but there’s a certain satisfaction that comes from being able to speak and read at least some of the local language when traveling.

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