Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to be an artist. Playing with colours and creating something out of nothing, making a boring white canvas alive, was my life. Even in school, I used to spend all my free time in art class.
I barely passed other subjects but used to score well in art class. My art teacher Mrs Scott loved me. We had a special connection. She helped me a lot and guided me to pick my carrier in fine arts.
Once Mrs. Scott was going to the Ruskin School of Art at the University of Oxford with the seniors, I begged my parents to allow me to go with her. Finally, they agreed after meeting her and talking at length.
As soon as I entered the campus, I fell in love with it. The environment, the people even the grasses were growing artistically. There were many foreigners as well. Because of its excellent education system, many foreigners are also choosing the United Kingdom as their preferred study destination these days.
I was determined to join this college once I graduated from high school. I prepared everything from essays to interviews for college, planned everything, and finally received an acceptance letter from my dream institution. It was like a dream come true. I was overjoyed and danced around all day.
Losing The Dream
Let me warn you, people, even if you are accepted, there is always the matter of securing enough cash that needs addressing. I was not worried about money as it never occurred to me to even think about that stuff.
Oxford University is one of the most expensive destinations because of the fees, and the costs of living, which make a severe impact on an average middle-class family like myself. Yes! Many students qualify for scholarships or grants with their excellent scores, but sadly I was not one of those students.
Seeing the fees, I could see my parent’s faces fading into darkness. It was beyond our budget. My father announced,
“We will get a private loan.”
The next day we visited a local money lender to discuss our situation. He crunched some numbers and finally informed my father that his credit score was very bad.
It turned out last year, my father’s car broke down, the cost of the repair was very high, and so the mechanic suggested buying a new car instead. My father took out car finance with bad credit on an instant decision.
Even though he paid the entire amount, for some reason, his credit score was too low to get a loan for me. It felt like my dreams were running away from becoming the reality. We came back home with long faces.
A Ray of Hope
I was sitting in my living room and revaluating my life when my grad father called to ask about my college application. I told them about the present scenario trying hard to control all my emotions.
As it happens, most parents start saving for college education for their kids since their childhood. Unfortunately, my parents were not those people, but luckily my grandparents were those people.
My smart grandparents had fixed some amount for my college education at my birth. It was a big ray of hope. He said he would talk to the people and let me know the next day.
The next evening, he called to inform, the amount was enough to cover half the fee. We met the same lender the next day with this amount in hand. He told us I was eligible for Partial scholarships, which were enough to cover my tuition fees. But the interest rates were very high.
We had to make an instant decision. We decided to get the loan. Now I had enough in my hand to get myself into college. The only thing left was my living expense like food and travel in Oxford. But I had a plan for that as well.
Life in Oxford
I have had my bags ready since I received my acceptance letter. I booked the ticket and went to Oxford, it was amazing. I found myself a cheaper place to live nearby which was shared by 3 people.
All four of us were students at Oxford, just in different schools. It was a really small room, but it didn’t bother me. I had big plans for myself. The town was full of students. There were some foreigners as well.
To the students out there, if you don’t have a scholarship or your scholarship does not support the total amount, you’ll have to come up with additional means to cover the rest of your living expenses like rent, food travel, etc.
Many college students do part-time jobs, get family contributions, or take out a personal loan for this. Now that I had a place to live, I was next to find a part-time job next on my agenda. I picked a part-time job at a local restaurant.
It was the evening shift. Needless to say, it was rush hour and required hard work. But their pay was handsome enough to survive and cover my daily expenses with a bit of room for saving as well.
Managing Finances and Student Loan Repayment
It was not easy managing classes and jobs, but I enjoyed it fully. And I learned the importance of saving. I started monitoring my expenses and started saving wherever I could.
I knew I was under huge debt, so I must plan my finances with my education so I could repay as soon as possible and make a good life for myself. I started saving.
The repayment period for the loan I got was twenty years. But I decided to pay it within ten years.
With proper financial planning, saving, and investment, I managed to repay my student loan and pay my grandparents back.
So people out there, if you want to learn at your dream education, the loan is not a bad option provided you have solid planning.
Conclusion
Higher education in the UK is very expensive. There are multiple options to fund your education, like self-funding, parental support, government-funded loans, private loans, etc. Taking out a private education loan has high-interest rates and requires some eligibility criteria to be fulfilled before applying.
You can study for your dream education and repay them on time if you plan everything well.
