Since I was a small child, my parents had encouraged me make it a priority to complete my education. As you can see, hoping to be the first person in our family who would graduate from college would definitely make them very proud.

Since my education was my top priority, I graduated with honors and received a substantial scholarship. My parents were very proud during the graduation ceremony and told our family friends on every possible opportunity that I would soon enter the large university, which was just a couple of hours away from our home.

Freshman year was just great! My courses were challenging and I loved living in the dorm and getting to know my roommates. I planned to return home for the summer, get a part-time job, reunite with high school friends, and unwind after a year of studying hard. But then I immediately changed my plans after finding out that my dad had been sick for several weeks.

My parents hid it from me to prevent me from worrying. “You had final exams to think about, honey,” my mom explained, but it did not make the news any easier to accept. My dad was in a terminal condition and there was nothing his doctors could do further.

In August, I returned to campus for my sophomore year. I did not want to leave my family, but both of my parents insisted. I received a phone call two weeks later. My dad died.

I made my way home from college in the next two weeks of grieving and had people that I had not seen for years providing a few good shoulders to cry on. I just could not keep my focus into proper place when I returned to campus although my professors were willing to work with me so that I could catch up with what I had missed after knowing what had happened while I was at home helping my mom with arrangements.

Frequent nightmares prevent me from getting sleep. When my alarm went off in the morning, telling me it was time to get to class, all I wanted to do was continue sleeping. And did it all the time. My grades all went down and I just felt that I do not have any energy or desire to do something about it.

Then something happened that I dreaded to happen. I lost my scholarship. How on earth would I ever get my degree without my scholarship?

My roommate, Tiff got a phone call from her parents just when my depression was hitting a new low. They told me to hold on and not to lose hope. It turns out, they had some financial difficulties and had worried about sending Tiff to college. Before our freshman year began, they discovered OnlineStudentLoansGuide.com. They encouraged me to have my mom visit the web site immediately, which we did exactly.

Their advice saved me from dropping out of college for good. Mom and I looked over the web site and learned about the different types of student loans that I might qualify for. The site differentiates the need-based student loans, government student loans, alternative student loans, subsidized and non-subsidized loans, making it easier for us to understand.

Information about student loans for graduate school was also available, which I read just in case I would plan to take further degree of education. I know that my dad would be proud of it.

If you are scared that you or your adolescent may not be able to afford to pay for college, take a look at the resources available at OnlineStudentLoansGuide. com. The web site offers pertinent information regarding many types of available alternative student loans.