Iana J. Daniels: “If you told me as a teenager sitting in Guyana, South America that I would be here talking to you on this platform, sharing parts of my journey, I would have said you're on some very good stuff. 

There's a quote, I read one time, it said, 'Life is like a roller coaster, just hold on tight and enjoy the ride'. It was and I did hold on tight. 

I also feel sure about the enjoyment part, even though there was a lot of trauma and shame early on in my life. 

And like a roller coaster, it's been intense. 

I even ended up in military service, in the US Army. That was one of those things that I did not have planned for me. I wanted nothing to do with military service. I was presented with an opportunity to have my student loans paid off, in addition to being able to have my graduate degree, as many of them as I wanted, subsidized, while at the same time making a living. Those three things for me came down to one word: independence.

I gave them 21 years of my life when I only intended to give them the three that they needed.

I wouldn't recommend anyone going to college to pay for college the way I did, because you introduce unnecessary suffering into your life. 

I got through with a combination of student loans, credit cards, and a partial track scholarship. 

Be prudent about any type of student loan. 

Credit cards, definitely not as a student. During the first month of a new semester there's nothing but credit card companies at the student union.

It’s easy to get into credit card debt, especially when you don’t have a job.” 

Have a listen as I interview my special guest, Iana J. Daniels.