<prompt> Human: I graduated with my pharmacy doctorate in 2012 with approximately 70,000 in student loan debt. For the first 30 months after graduation, I was mired with the prospects of working with various staffing companies. When I was between stints with staffing companies, I decided to pursue a masters degree in healthcare informatics. By the stroke of luck, I ended up with another staffing company right before the masters program so I managed to minimize the need for student loans as I worked full-time during the entire masters program.nbsp;My Student Loan Debt Undergraduate studies 2005 to 2008 - 0 I went to an in-state university which was paid for by lottery-funded scholarship which covered the entire cost of tuition, academic scholarships, grants and part-time jobs.nbsp; Pharmacy School - 70k 2008 to 2012Scholarships covered a good portion of my first year tuition costs and summerpart-time jobs helped covered as much as I could with livings.nbsp; Masters Degree - 10k 2013 to 2015The total cost of the program was more, but I paid for the rest as I was working for a solid stretch during this time.nbsp;My Job Path June 2012 - Sept. 2014, Avg. Annual Earnings 90KI was employed with various staffing agencies during this time period. I was employed as a hourly W-2 pharmacist. I had to pay for my own insurance, did not have any PTO or any of the benefits of a permanent employee. Because of the possible instability, I worked every shift imaginable.My budget during this time consisted of paying living expenses, save a fixed amount, max my Roth IRA and dump the rest into student loans. During a few several month periods, I was putting 3-4kmonth towards my loans.nbsp; Oct. 2014 - Present, Salary 107KAfter being with a company for 3 different stints, I was offered a permanent position with them without an interview process. I was not eligible for the 401k until January 2015, so when that happened, the only thing I changed in my budget was divert enough of my paychecks to maximize my 401k.nbsp;My expenses werely kept fairly low 1750 per month, as the nature of working with staffing companies made it potentially very unstable. As I was with staffing companies, I did not have access to 401k; it was not until the start of 2015 when I could put money into a 401k. Rather than blowing through the extra money, I decided to pretty much put as much of the left-over money as I could towards my student loans which all had interest rates at 6.8.nbsp;Importants Things I Would Tell Others: Very few people come out of school with the position they envisioned when they first entered school. You may have to work in your field in a position that is not completely you for a time. Everyones past and present is filled with both positive and negative moments. Yet when everyone envisions the future, it is all roses. What many older adults paint for you is the most optimistic picture. There are many things you should consider on your own and not rely solely on one expert.nbsp;Personal aside, I am a first generation immigrant Vietnamese so what my parents helped with with college is home-cooked meals I brought back to my apartment.nbsp;For those wondering, I went to school in Florida and I work as a pharmacist in Florida Im licensed in Florida and Texas in a office setting. 40 hours a week, outpatient medications for the most part, zero patient interaction. I do not physically dispense any medications. Hoping to get into a position as a pharmacy systems and program analyst with my degrees.  <response>: Congratulations OP!but the real achievement here is OP finishing pharmacy school 