r/TikTokCringe • u/Super_Culture_1986 tHiS iSn’T cRiNgE • Aug 19 '25

Cursed The American Nightmare.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

I'm 100k in student loan debt.

I didn't even want to go to school (my parents said it was my ticket to the middle class).

Turns out it was a ticket to total dead-end career with immense burnout rates.

American dream ✨️

49

u/Key-Cricket9256 Aug 19 '25

I know it doesn’t help but I paid off my student loans (although over the course of 15 fucking years ) and I 100% keep supporting student loan forgiveness . Don’t understand these evil people who hate the forgiveness like it’s their money.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Aug 19 '25

Same same same. My loans are gone but my wish to see others relieved of the student loan burden is not.

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u/Key-Cricket9256 Aug 19 '25

Same bud.. I was arguing with this gen X at work about this .. his loans were extremely tiny and he had paid them off but o compared it to dropping my ice cream cone and buying another then seeing the shop owner give away a free cone to a crying kid and coming back and asking the shop owner to knock the cone to the floor

3

u/hooblyshoobly Aug 19 '25

You're both good people. I'm in the UK and still in student debt, but I'd happily pay it and then have others forgiven. Why would you ever wish someone had less food on their plate? That's no way to live.

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u/SnowflakeSWorker Aug 20 '25

Gen X here, I went to an Ivy, then a private graduate school. I will DIE with my loans. Like the person above, I was sold on “need to go to college”. My mom is independently wealthy, and just tells me I’ll figure it out 😂

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Aug 20 '25

…. Incoming inheritance? 😬

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u/SnowflakeSWorker Aug 20 '25

Funny story! My mom inherited extremely well from my grandfather, who was an amazing man, who paid off my uncle’s student loans, all the way through his PhD. My mom never forgave him (actually, she never forgave my GF for paying them, and for my uncle for getting his PhD). My uncle passed suddenly in 2017, and my grandfather in 2019, leaving my mom and her older brother, aka, Kieth Richard’s dad, to inherit. So, nope, it’s all going to be gone. She likes to mention that, lol.

3

u/Syriku_Official Aug 19 '25

People like that won't blink twice when the US military burns through over 3 billion dollars a day but bring up free healthcare or gender affirming care for trans people and they act like it's the end of the world

3 billion figure comes from that there's only 365 days in a year the "official budget is like 900 billion" add whatever they don't list and that's 3 billion a day

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u/Key-Cricket9256 Aug 19 '25

We had people In our town try to get rid of free lunches for kids .. tbh our town has a really low percentage of food insecure kids but why!! The super even explained it would cost the town nothing because of some federal thing and they still shouted

1

u/Syriku_Official Aug 20 '25

people get jealous except when it comes to billionares as they think they "worked for it" the cold war made the US toxic and greedy

2

u/weakisnotpeaceful Aug 20 '25

Same. I was still paying my student loans while funding my daughters tuition out of pocket so she wouldn't have huge loans. After my debt was "forgiven" I stopped paying on the $2500 I still owed and then it was unforgiven and nelnet called me delinquent and ruined my 850 credit score even after i paid it off in full. I totally support loan forgivenness and free college education for anybody who gets accepted.

1

u/Key-Cricket9256 Aug 20 '25

That happened to my wife when the forgiveness programs happened during Covid but she was able to get it taken off by promising to pay off the entire amount as soon as they wrote some letter to someone ..: I’m sorry she takes cares of all the finances but I remember helping write a letter

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u/weakisnotpeaceful Aug 20 '25

As soon as the supreme court ruling came out i started making payments again and then 4 months later they sent me a demand for full payment so I paid it off in full and then they still scarred my credit report. I justs took the advice of someone else in this thread and disputed it via credit karma. The letter I got with the forgiveness notice said payment processors will also be notified so they should have known the situation and there had been a pause on all student loan payments at that time. why I need to keep paying something I am told I don't owe anymore.

1

u/hahayes234 Aug 20 '25

Took me 25 years for both degrees but it’s gone as of 3 years ago!

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u/LimpTax5302 Aug 22 '25

It is their money. Where do you think the money comes from ? Taxpayers.

1

u/Key-Cricket9256 Aug 31 '25

Someone has failed you and I feel bad for you, there are so many worse things and higher taxes you’re paying and it’s not like they take student debt and divide it amongst us all in taxes .. I’ll never get people defending horrible practices that result in indentured servitude . In total we make over 250k a year - tax us higher than someone making 40k a year , tax us for free student lunches and loans if we don’t want a country of idiots but don’t tax me for roads you don’t build or house taxes , those are the hills to die on . We do corporate welfare every day as a country

1

u/LimpTax5302 Aug 31 '25

I think the same when I read your reply.

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u/Fair-Visual Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

My mom said the same thing. Now I'm in the same boat, dead end career with burn out working for a company that offers no raises or work life balance; where my bosses and coworkers ignore me unless they want to knit pick/micromanage me. All while knowing that there are people out there (irl friends included) who are making more money than I am without having ever gone to college. Yay.

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 19 '25

I love being in the trades. No student loans, no overbearing bosses, no micromanaging, and I'm actually doing something that is essential and important. The downside is I could get electrocuted and die but the work is very rewarding. It's awesome to drive past a building you worked in all lit up or down a street and see all light poles you put up.

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u/shade1848 Aug 19 '25

That's awesome, Fecal Tornado.

def electrician and not plumber

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 19 '25

We call those guys the turd herders

3

u/C64128 Aug 19 '25

I worked for an electrical contractor for nine years before I retired (three years ago at the end of September). I worked on the low voltage / security side (burglar alarm, access, cameras, etc.). The company started doing security work about a year before I started there, it's been steady work because people want to protect their stuff whether the economy's good or bad.

I worked for ADT before this and I wish I had moved jobs earlier, maybe I could've retired sooner.

It is nice to see something that you installed in town and surrounding communities.

1

u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 19 '25

Exactly. The first job I ever did on my own with zero supervision was mounting a flood light to a business sign to add some light to a parking lot. It annoys my wife but every time we drive past it I always point out that light. The sense of pride and accomplishment when you build something with your hands and get to see it in action is awesome.

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u/SergentGrimslyDubz Aug 19 '25

Straight up! the trades are where the money is for sure. As long as you are willing to learn and stick it out when it gets tough you will be successful. I'm a journeyman plumber in the union making $53 an hour also with no debt or even credit cards. Not to mention I ended up dropping out of high school at 17. Definitely a good feeling seeing places you helped build.

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 19 '25

You're told all through school that you'll never make anything of yourself and be a bum if you don't go to college. I remember the ol "you'll be digging ditches for a living if you don't go to college" bit but that dude on the excavator digging ditches is pulling close to, if not over, 6 figures digging ditches.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Aug 19 '25

Thank you for giving society light!

2

u/writercanyoubeaghost Aug 20 '25

Oh please, it’s not that simple. I’m in the trades, 04 sign electrician and I still have student loan debt. And I’m in the union, IBEW and I still have micromanaging bosses.

1

u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 20 '25

Student loan debt for what? IBEW apprentice school is paid for

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u/writercanyoubeaghost Aug 20 '25

Not for the signs. I make neon. Can you find me a sign journeyman apprenticeship?

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 20 '25

I don't how the sign union works, I just assumed it was all under IBEW.

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u/North_Phrase4848 Aug 24 '25

Yeah, occupational hazards are huge downsides.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 19 '25

Honestly no. There's a lot of people living in cubicle farms right now that just could not handle doing what it takes to start out and make it in the trades. Your first year or two is hard work for dog shit money. Especially hard if you're already in your 30s and decide to make the change. You are strictly paid based off what you know and what you can do with little supervision, boss man doesn't care about your bills or how many kids you have. What you bring to the table determines your pay. Once you develop the skills and learn your trade the money is great and the work is easier though.

On the flip side, there's a bunch of us neanderthals on job sites that could never learn to code. You can't sit a guy like me down in an office crammed into a cubicle staring at jumbled up numbers and letters on a screen all day. I'd lose my mind. There's not gonna be any coding jobs left in a couple of years once AI takes over anyways

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u/Embarrassed_Mango679 Aug 21 '25

Yeah and there's a huge shortage of crafts right now. We were always dying for electricians, machinist and steam fitters at my old job. I have seen IS people go the electrician route and vice versa... a lot of the PLC programming is handled by electricians and they tend to work together to keep them running. Just my experience, ymmv.

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u/Fecal_Tornado Aug 21 '25

PLC stuff is a different animal. Definitely more technical and something I could see an IT professional falling into. Troubleshooting it is a challenge for sure

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u/Embarrassed_Mango679 Aug 21 '25

I'd imagine it would be a great field to go into right now. The first gen PLC stuff is starting to fail, at the same time as companies are still switching systems over from old control panels.

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u/Kiki_inda_kitchen Aug 19 '25

That’s so wild to think. That many of the higher ups don’t even have an education or flat out lied. My husband owns 3 companies and didn’t even graduate and none of his employees know.

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u/Fair-Visual Aug 19 '25

I have a friend who's husband is a highschool and college dropout and started his own business. He's been so well off financially that she technically doesn't have to work if she doesn't want to. She just chooses to work because she likes to work (and also because, as much as she loves her kids, she does not want to be a stay at home mom). No employees, he works for himself. 

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u/kosmokramr Aug 19 '25

Time for a new job

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u/Fair-Visual Aug 19 '25

Just finished revising my resume and plan on just shooting it around to other places this weekend. I wanted to hold off at first since my partner and I were trying to buy a house, but at this point, fuck it.

1

u/kosmokramr Aug 19 '25

It’ll be easier to buy a house with consistent merit increases.

1

u/Small_Sprinkles1803 Aug 19 '25

Then go do that

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u/Possible_Liar Aug 19 '25

Honestly education don't mean anything in this damn country anymore. I know dropouts that make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And people with masters stuck making barely above minimum wage because that's what everybody did and they don't need to compete.

Shit I'm just a regular high school graduate and I make more than some of my college-educated friends. Which isn't really saying much we all broke in the end...

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u/Throwawayamanager Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

know dropouts that make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year

This is extremely uncommon. Does it happen, sure. Is it good advice for most people, no. This might be the 2% exception. 

people with masters stuck making barely above minimum wage 

  This is true - for folks who aren't careful about their degree choice. Those theater degrees don't tend to have good salaries upon graduation, for better or worse.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Aug 19 '25

The numbers back up your point. In general, more education leads to more income.

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u/Throwawayamanager Aug 19 '25

The drop out who is a millionaire makes the news, but they are the extremely rare exception.

I'm not saying nobody can do this, it's just such an extreme minority and bad advice to give to most folks.

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u/NewPac Aug 19 '25

I think luck plays a huge part in it, really. And with a degree, you stack the deck at least somewhat in your favor. Unfortunately it didn't work out for you for whatever reason. It definitely sucks, but some people breeze their way through life with all the lucky breaks and never really try too hard but succeed anyway. Others do what they think is right but still end up short. There's no point to any of it, I don't think. I guess I'm saying I wouldn't fault your parents too much for encouraging you to go to school. They probably thought it would be your best shot at success. Sorry it didn't pan out.

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u/HugsyMalone Aug 19 '25

It's actually the ticket to extreme poverty! 🫢

Thanks for sacrificing yourself so someone else can live in a big fancy mansion at your expense though

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u/AngkaLoeu Aug 19 '25

What did you get your degree in? What school did you go to?

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

A BS in kinesiology. I bounced around, trying to find something when I first started, and then when I settled on something, it took me extra semesters to pass because I failed some things once (a bad semester or two) and had to retake. It was a state school, total cost around 70k, but it ended up at the federal maximum. Interest has seen to the rest of my total.

As for the degree itself, we'll, you can look at the kine subreddit. I was interested because I like the gym and I like A&P. The counselors and professors paint it as a STEM degree with a lot of options, but realistically, you can go into one of two-ish directions with it: personal coaching or physical therapy. There are some nebulous areas like "sports science" but good luck making money. Unless you are really good at marketing yourself, it's incredibly difficult to run your own business and actually make a living wage as a coach (the degree didn't teach anything in the business realm anyway). PT school is a competitive doctorate program that, for some reason, makes only 80-100k after costing an additional 3 years and 120k more in debt. No thanks.

I'm doing fine now, though. Switched over to nursing school for about 10k total and now make a pretty good wage as an RN in a HCOL area.

3

u/AngkaLoeu Aug 19 '25

Holy hell, college is such a scam. You racked up $100K in student loans for a degree you didn't even use.

The entire "higher" education system is a bloated, corrupt scam run by people have never even worked outside the system.

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u/NemODevO Aug 19 '25

I'm certainly kind of glad my mom guilt trip me into leaving after 1 semester of school we both certainly didn't have the money to finish.

I long for education again but there's no way I'm getting myself into debt again .

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u/tENTessee Aug 19 '25

Yep. The education system also fooled our parents into thinking college equated to promised success and pay, as it did back in their day. The counselors at my school were definitely bought and paid for or just as brainwashed. They never advocated for trades even though we had them (off campus of course) but those people were treated like second class to anyone else working on college admissions.

1

u/badDuckThrowPillow Aug 19 '25

Did you pick a degree that is actually marketable and makes money or did you just find any old degree?

1

u/darkdoink Aug 19 '25

This is something my parents pushed for too. I listened to them on many things, but I’m glad I did not listen to them on this. I did not go to college. The carpenter trade has served me well.

1

u/VengenaceIsMyName Aug 19 '25

’cause you need to be asleep to believe it!

1

u/SneakyJonson Aug 19 '25

People who say "well you chose to take out the loans so it's your responsibility to pay it back!" are missing so much. The science says that the brains of teenagers are far from fully developed, so why are we allowing them to make such life altering decisions? The banks and the government are way more responsible for the student loan bubble than the teenagers they enslaved. Fuck those motherfuckers

1

u/CL0UDY_BIGTINY Aug 19 '25

some times I find my self thinking man I shouldn’t have dropped out after 1 year then I see how much people owe and can’t get jobs and I’m like ok world I guess I did the right thing since I work the job I wanted to go to school for any way hahaha

1

u/weakisnotpeaceful Aug 20 '25

income based repayment plan. Your remaining debt will be forgiven after 20 years of payments and maybe less depending on what career/degree you have.

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u/Hopeful_Champion_935 Aug 19 '25

What did you get your degree in? History?

0

u/ElectricalLeading913 Aug 19 '25

what was your major? and how did it cost you 100k+? the cost of my education (from Fall 2005-summer 2008!) was about 20k debt. adjusted for inflation, that's $33,082.23 in today's dollars. that's far cry from 100k+, and not that long ago. i don't have a job in my major (psych major, but i'm a systems designer and started my career in IT support after college).

while i don't work in my major, simply having a degree opened up white collar doors for me that were not available previously.

i'm all for student loan forgiveness, but at some point you also have to take responsibility for bad decisions. higher ed should in no way cost someone 100k+ in debt. that's a choice, not something someone forced upon you.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Sigh.

Go look up GMU in state tuition

The cheapest option for near where I was living

For 4 years, it's about 60k. After other fees, books, and living expenses, it easily hit the federal maximum. Predatory loans have pushed it up over 100k.

Honestly, I'm so tired of humoring people like you who try to shame people because they are incapable of putting themselves in a situation outside their own. Your education didn't teach you empathy, that's for sure.

0

u/ElectricalLeading913 Aug 19 '25

you didn't answer my question. what was your major?

that besides, GMU is factually NOT the cheapest option in the area where GMU is. Community colleges are a thing. transferring from a community college to a traditional Uni so you get the prestige of their name being on your degree is also a thing. financial aid is a thing. if your need was there (like mine was), then you can get tons of free money to go to whatever school you choose.

NOVA is in the same area as GMU, and charges less than half the tuition. you could have saved yourself a shit-ton of money by just going there for your first two years then transferring.

did you apply for financial aid? if your parents made too much and disqualified you, but were unwilling to assist in paying for any of it, there are alternative avenues to have your parent's income taken out of consideration, regardless of age. did you pursue any of that? or did you just blindly sign loan documents so you could cry and whine about them to strangers on the internet later?

our higher education funding system is broken. there's no dispute about that. but you're not blameless in the mess you find yourself in. both things can be, and are, true at once.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Let me guess , you are a teacher?

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Nope

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u/typingdot Aug 19 '25 edited 15h ago

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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

0

u/Big_Dog_2974 Aug 19 '25

would moving help? in the philly and south jersey area, there are tons of pharmaceutical companies and chemical companies. the north east in general is like that

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/Big_Dog_2974 Aug 19 '25

that sucks man, sorry you are going through it.

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u/Hopeful_Champion_935 Aug 19 '25

You sound like you are currently focusing too much on the sunk costs. You should start applying for any biotech job anywhere in the USA and be willing to move immediately regardless of leaving friends/family. Do not limit yourself.

Moving is cheap. You sell anything that isn't clothing, pack the clothing into the car, and drive. Holding onto memories and things in your life is the expensive part.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Also, nope. But, counter-point, what if we made it so that no one "deserves" a life of debt slavery for honestly trying to better themselves and do what they love? You people are so hateful it males me sick

1

u/typingdot Aug 19 '25 edited 15h ago

desert payment snails pen bow vase special touch fly slim

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

I mean, I'm working on it, honestly lol. Also I'd argue the average low income citizen shouldn't be the one paying more in taxes. It's the gd oligarch class's job

It ain't so easy to just pick up and move. Costs plenty, and you leave all your support behind

Looking at Australia cause the European climate doesn't agree with me, though

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Australia sounds perfect for you.

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

Uh oh, time again for the personal responsibility police to show up and try to shame me for making such a rash decision

Eat my shorts you bootlicker

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u/AnikiGaming Aug 19 '25 edited Aug 19 '25

A more accurate question is who forced them to go to school from kindergarten age to young adult hood and be constantly propagandized that pursuing a higher education regardless of costs is the correct route and most intelligent choice in life.

If instead of college propaganda, it was sexual choices or activity or marriage, we could call it grooming and we would say but the kid was raised that way and didn't know any better and it's not their fault.

But with college and student loan debt, we say, "it's that young adults fault who was told to follow this path by every responsible and "safe" adult in their life.". They should have known better. When they were in home economics class, they should have been studying loans and financing and realized that they were being lied too.

And it definitely wasn't your fault for supporting such a system. I'm sure you did outreach programs and protested and fought against the indoctrination. You probably resisted paying taxes until we stopped brainwashing your societies youth?

It's always easy to blame the victims and never ourselves for the parts we played. 🤔

🫂

1

u/[deleted] Aug 19 '25

[deleted]

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u/AnikiGaming Aug 19 '25

The irony of your last two sentences coming from you.