<prompt> Human: It is true that a lot of recent college graduates took out unwisely large student loans for non-lucrative degrees. We all know that. But can we please stop telling them they are stupid?Yes, we were generally actual adults when we took out these loans, even if just barely, and we therefore have to take adult responsibility for those choices. Yes, many of us chose majors based on what we wanted to do rather than what the market is willing to pay us for. Yes, many of us went to more expensive private schools instead of the less expensive state schools. Yes, we were taken in by the prevailing attitude that jobs are abundant, there are plenty of jobs for every major, and even a relatively low paying job will still allow us to comfortably pay back out student loan debt. We got swept up in that attitude, but the idea was not originally ours. Yes, as college-bound high schoolers, perhaps we should have been smart enough to see how wrong that idea was. But we didnt buy into this without the advice of our elders. Many of us asked the adults we respected for advice; we asked our parents, school guidance counselors, teachers, and others for advice on school and major choices. As young adults, many of us did the most responsible thing we could have done in that situation: we recognized that we didnt have sufficient wisdom to make a sound decision on our own, so we got advice from others to help fill in the gaps in our knowledge. If we chose to be very conservative, going to a cheaper school for a career-ready degree, some of the adults around us even tried to dissuade us, suggesting we follow our passions rather than the money. Now, once having graduated college into a very different economic landscape than I graduated high school in, I have to face the consequences of borrowing so much money for such useless degree. I made the decision, so, yes, I should pay the consequence. But there were a lot of people around me cheering me on in those decisions I made. Many of those same people now tell me how wrong I was to take out those loans and study that topic. They forget that they were also wrong to advise me the way that they did, but they dont have to live with the consequences of that advice, I do. They also dont have such huge evidence of their overly optimistic view of the economy, whereas my enormous debt serves as very obvious evidence. It is easy for them to forget and deny that they were overly optimistic and blame those stupid pretentious college kids who live so far beyond their means while studying for useless degrees. Im not going to say that I shouldnt have to live with the consequences of my decisions. Still, that doesnt make it okay to insult me for making unwise decisions or to imply that all those college kids made these terrible choices en masse while everyone else knew how bad those choices were. Some people might have seen what so many of us chose to do as risky, and a very few people may have saw these consequences coming, but just like with the housing bubble, most people had an optimistic view of the economic future and our choices seemed more or less sensible in that context. ---As for me: I graduated high school at the height of 10 year stint of severe mental illness. My parents advised me to pay for college with 100 private student loans. Illness meant it took me 6 years to graduate. I majored in Humanities because that was what I enjoyed. I attended an academically challenging school, working harder than necessary, for real learning rather than jumping through hoops. I borrowed 86,000. By the time I graduated, in 2008, I owed 106,000. My first job out of college paid 25,000. Ive been living at home, miserably, and have paid down my debt to 61,000 in the past 4 years, but that still leaves me with loan payments big enough to make rent an impossible expense.  <response>: Youve paid off 15,000 a year, for the last four years, making 25,000? Bravo to you, sir! No matter what anyone says re: the wisdom or foolishness of acquiring so much debt, youve done a phenomenal job getting your mess cleaned up. Regardless of how your future career plans pan out, youve set up a lifestyle and a pattern of saving that will ensure that you win with money for the rest of your life. If you can keep living frugally once your loans are paid off, youll be able to amass a tremendous amount of wealth in a very short time: ensuring that regardless of your eventual salary youll be able to achieve some major life goals without further debt. Just wanted to say: congratulations! Youre doing a great job! 