Hello, I was wondering if someone could contact me in order to offer me some advice or direction in my current situation. I am XXXX and live in XXXX County, Maryland and attended XXXX schools. 

I grew up with a single father with mental illness after my mother passed away when I was XXXX. Our family could not afford health insurance so my mother could not go to the hospital when she had a ruptured appendeix. Because of my father 's XXXX XXXX, he could not provide any support or advice in my life decisions. 

The reason I am sharing these personal details of my life is to paint a picture of what barriers I was facing at XXXX when I wanted to attend college. 

Coming from an affluent area in XXXX County, I knew what career success looked like. My parents never achieved this type of success so this naturally motivated me more to work hard to have a successful future. I learned at a early age that intelligent individuals are evenly dispersed among any population but unfortunately wealth is not. I was one of unlucky, XXXX children that was aware of this discrepancy ; possibly the worst of all scenerios. 

Because my dads lack of experience in this area, and his XXXX struggles, I was on my own in figuring out how to apply to, and finance college. Like any teenager with a question, I went online and typed in, " How do I pay for college. '' I clicked on the first advertisement I saw, and ended up taking out XXXX private loans from XXXX XXXX to finance my college at the University XXXX over XXXX years. I had never heard of FAFSA, I was not aware federal loans and their forgiveness programs, I did n't know what a grant was or how to find scholarship opportunities. 

You might question, " Why did n't you get this information from a high school counselor? '' The answer is simply, " I do n't know. '' I assume possibly fell through the cracks because I was a XXXX, XXXX student that looked like my affluent, well supported peers. My struggle of lack of educational support motivated me to dedicate my life to support student. I am now a XXXX myself. I feel no student should feel alone in their educational journey. 

I am now XXXX, and because of the high interest rates of XXXX XXXX loans, I am {$110000.00} in debt. Some of my loans have doubled in their initial amount due to interest since I have XXXX. I ca n't pay the monthly fees now, and I do n't know how I will ever pay this loan off without significant financial struggle in my life. 

I am asking for advice, assistance, references to help me in any way. Thank you for your time, listening to my story and I look forward to hearing back from someone soon.