Student Loan Burden

As college degrees are becoming more of a necessity in our workforce, many people are taking out loans to pay for their education. For a bachelors degree, the average Maine student graduates with an average of $23,000 of debt. Parents want what is best for their children, so taking out or cosigning a student loan takes little thought as they sign virtually any paper placed in front of them.

My College Story

From my own personal experience, I felt I had to go to college even if I didn't know what I wanted to do at the time. Many students go about attending school this way, hoping they find some inspiration at some point along the way. I admittedly made some mistakes in college - not thinking enough about my financial future was one of the biggest. I ended up coming out of college with just over $40,000 in debt, and the only jobs available were for minimum wage.

As I must take responsibility for my actions, I believe that too little was done on the part of the university I attended and the student loan companies I borrowed from. I believe that all students in their junior and senior years should receive financial literacy training, and much more guidance needs to be given to these young people before they potentially sign their financial lives away. The need for this is the greatest right now, as our economy is much worse off than it was in 2005. Millions of graduates young and old are struggling to get by because of their student loan debt.


Student Loan Justice

My experiences with higher education and the student loan industry lead me to start investigating more into the subject, and what I found was very concerning. I read stories about predatory lending, Sallie Mae giving bribes to financial aid offices to sell their loans, and many stories of people being crushed by their debt. I ended up finding a group called Student Loan Justice, which is a grassroots organization devoted to restoring standard consumer protections to student loans. The founder, Alan Collinge, lays out a clear and compelling argument for reform while providing evidence of corruption and scandal by the student loan industry. This argument is supported by the thousands of stories of hardship that have been submitted to the site.

I decided to take the lead here in Maine and represent these people, as there was no existing voice for them. It gave me experience in grassroots organizing, information gathering, and public relations. The biggest fruit from the venture came back in March of this year, when I appeared on Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks armed with the stories of local people struggling to get by because of their student loans. I appeared alongside Elizabeth Bordowitz, CEO of the Financial Authority of Maine (FAME).

Please be an informed citizen and research the topic. You can also visit StudentLoanJustice.org, and view the show that aired on March 27, 2009 on MPBN.net.

Who is Chris Kessler?

In order to best communicate with the community, I created this blog to inform people about who I am, my views, and my intentions. This blog will also contain information about how you can get involved.

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A Little About Me

I am originally from the Syracuse, NY area (raised in the small town of Canastota, home of the Boxing Hall of Fame and onion farming). I graduated from Canasota High School in 2000, and went on to attend college at the State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego. Being advised to follow my passions, I studied music and focused on vocal performance (although I spent more time studying music theory, history, studio engineering, and guitar). I also had the privilege to study at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, QLD, Australia. I earned a Music BA with a 3.01 GPA in May 2005, and then began life in the "real" world.

Taking time off after graduation required me to get full-time employment unrelated to my studies. I ended up getting into the field of social services as a childcare worker for Elmcrest Children's Center in Syracuse working with at-risk youth. My experiences there taught me how to work with my colleagues constructively in times of stress and crisis, as well as how to manage children's behavior. For personal reasons, I did not return to get my Masters degree in Music Education, and continued to work with kids.

I met a wonderful woman (Jessie) in college that I married in 2007, and on our honeymoon we came to Portland. We visited a college friend, and on our visit she brought us to her workplace (Scratch Bakery) to get a coffee. As we strolled along Willard Beach, we were taken aback by the beauty this place holds. The culture of the Portland area was lively and inspiring. When we returned to Syracuse, we decided that we wanted to move someplace that fit us better. We ended up moving to South Portland in March 2008.

Since then, Jessie and I became a respite care couple with Spurwink Services. This enabled me to experience first hand the struggles that many families face when raising children with special needs. Due to state budget cuts to social services, our jobs were terminated at the end of June. I am taking this unfortunate turn of events as an opportunity to explore other areas, and am currently trying to get training in the renewable energy and energy conservation fields through the federal Workforce Investment Act.

Getting Involved

Over the past several years, I began to realize that the only way to make a difference in this life is to be an active participant in it. My experiences in Australia led me to get involved in social justice issues when returning to the States. After college graduation I became a member of the Syracuse Peace Council (peacecouncil.net), learning and helping disseminate information about social justice issues happening in Syracuse, our nation, and the world. After moving to Maine, I began to get involved with student loan reform. I joined a grassroots organization called Student Loan Justice (studentloanjustice.org), and quickly became the chapter leader for the state of Maine. This past spring, I appeared on Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks to discuss the lack of standard consumer protections for student loans, and the hardship that millions of Americans are experiencing just because of it. Of course, I couldn't have done it without the support of the other members, as they shared their stories with Jennifer to help illustrate the problem.

At the same time, I had become more involved in my community. I have been involved with (in varying degrees) SoPoDOG, the South Portland Land Trust, Hour Exchange Portland, Local Sprouts Community-Supported Kitchen, Habitat for Humanity, and the Exploratory Committee on Volunteerism for South Portland.

This is only a brief introduction to who I am, but as time goes on you will get to know me much more. Stay tuned.