Welcome to Enter13!

So I’ve decided to start a blog… Actually, this isn’t a whim, it’s something I’ve been talking about for quite a while now. I’ve always been a bit of a techie and an early adapter at heart, despite what my kids might say!

The question in my mind was not whether or not I could actually put this together — but if I had enough expertise and passion about anything in particular that would be of interest to anyone else but me. So many things went through my head, but honestly, this exercise made me realize that my most impressive feat to date is having raised my two children to be the incredible young adults that they are today. If you are reading this, you may already know my family personally in some way. Therefore, you know that I have been a single mom since my kids were very young, and you also know that I never played that card for sympathy. Being a single mom wasn’t the plan, it was just something that happened and we powered through it. The kids and I moved forward with the determination to still be the best people we could be, and like everyone else, we are still a work in progress.

This site is going to focus on the question that I am so often asked when people meet me, “How did you do it?”, “How did you end up with not one, but two amazing kids?”, “How did you get by on a civil service salary?”, “How did you find the time to volunteer for so many organizations while your kids were young?”, “How did you pull off baking 1000 Christmas cookies, and hand deliver them all to friends all over the county yet again?!”…

​The answer to all of those questions is… I actually don’t really know, but I was determined.

Beyond those questions, there is one more that people keep asking with almost disbelief… How did both of my kids finish college without any student loan debt? I will admit, In today’s America, that is not an easy feat. The answer is that It was truly a group effort that couldn’t have been accomplished without both kids being 100% committed and putting in endless hours of hard work applying for scholarships to cover the tuition and fees that I couldn’t. As the parent, I was able to assist with direction and support, but honestly it was going to be up to them to do the heavy lifting.

I know it could have been a lot easier if there had been someone there to coach us through the confusing parts, and share their experiences to affirm that we weren’t alone as we struggled to achieve this goal. We learned a lot along the way and I am going to use this platform to help others with the same goal of getting through college without debt to reach that glittering prize.

I will try to keep posts short so that readers can check in throughout the day when they have a few minutes while waiting at the doctor’s office, for practice to finish or during study hall. This is a website for both students and parents, as both have a very clear, yet integral role in the process of making a debt-free college diploma become a reality.

So… here’s to pushing the “launch” button. Thanks for coming along for the ride!