Why I can't forget college

It's been 10 years since I graduated college - yikes!  I can't even believe how fast time has gone since those unforgettable four years in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Those four years are unforgettable, of course, because of the friends, experiences, and personal growth during that time.  College for me included a trip to Spain for a semester to study the Spanish language and culture, a trip to Mexico to teach, downhill skiing as a physical education class, and so many other fun times.  

I learned a lot about myself, my strengths, my weaknesses, my insecurities, and how to take ownership over that time of my life to make it what I hoped it would be.

My most vivid memory of college is being trapped in a running carwash outside of the vehicle!  That's another story in itself!

All of those are reasons I will never forget college, but of course, another huge reason I can't forget about it is that college debt that I'm still chipping away at every month.  My checkbook is my monthly reminder of those four years and I can't wait until that last payment comes.

Did you know that there are ways to make college a lot cheaper?  

Of course, staying local, living at home, taking online courses or doing lots of general education requirements in your local community college is a huge way to save; but if you go the route of the four year university, living on campus, going to classes in person, using a meal plan, etc, one way to save money is to rent your college textbooks.  I remember spending upwards of $700 in one semester for those textbooks.  Sometimes, depending on your degree, that price tag is a lot more.  

For example, when I took my child psychology class, instead of buying the book for $149, I could have rented it for the whole semester for only $48!   

The coolest part about this particular company, CampusBookRentals, is that they donate to Operation Smile, an organization that treats children born with a cleft lip or cleft palette.  They do such great work, and the little children showing off their new smiles on Operation Smile's webpage just melt my heart!

If you know of someone attending college soon, ask them if they've heard of the idea of renting their textbooks!  Wish I'd have been able to do that!

Of course, I wish I had all of my college photos on a digital camera so I could have included some in this post!  As it stands now, I'm too lazy to scan them all in, so you'll just have to picture me 10 years younger dressed in my Bethel hoodie, windpants, and adidas cross trainers - basically my daily uniform back then!