We were able to make our dream a reality thanks to smart financial planning. During my time at Emory, I borrowed several thousand dollars in student loans with the goal to repay them as soon as possible — even before my grace period began. The remainder of my tuition was covered by scholarships. To make this possible, I worked two part-time jobs while maintaining full-time student status at Emory, each year. I took up jobs as a Kindergarten teacher’s aide at many Atlanta and other Georgia public elementary schools, but needed more savings. So, working weekends and summers for Saturday school and daycare services paid much more than the modest hours I worked during the school week. I made a nice check working as a bilingual paralegal in an immigration attorney’s office in Atlanta, as well as at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, where I prepared kids for therapy sessions during my senior year. I put it all straight into savings. I received stipends for conducting academic research for professors during the year. I worked hard to keep all my scholarships, some of which required me to maintain a B+ GPA. I continued to apply for small, easy application grant and scholarships on and off campus. Any amount granted to me, went into my savings and remained untouched unless there was an emergency.