A very merry Christmas surprise

 I was checking my email last night and saw a notice from my student loan holder. They’ve been hounding me to update my information in advance of payments resuming so I typically don’t pay them much attention. 

Guys? It wasn’t that. It was a notice that they’d audited my account under the temporary Public Service Loan Forgiveness waiver and as a result, the remaining balance of my student loans had been forgiven. ALL OF IT. No fight. No “file this in triplicate.” No sitting on hold forever. Just…gone. 

I’ve been working towards this for years. Made job choices with this in mind. Dutifully calculated and recalculated. Watched as my outstanding balance never seemed to go down even though I was paying so much towards it. Accepted every time my end date got extended. Nodded my head when mortgage brokers and bank loan officers “just want to confirm that this number is accurate because it’s…a lot.”

I still hadn’t fully appreciated how good this would feel.