Got a call from the Access Group this morning.

Turns out that my final federal loan came back where the guarantor denied my status as disabled because (and those of you who practice law will really appreciate this) my neurologist checked the box “No” under “Ability to Work.”

What my doctor failed to read, unfortunately, is that after the large, bolded ABILITY TO WORK heading, under which there were boxes for Yes and No, there was a question in fine print: “Does the patient have a disability that impairs them from working?” Not reading the fine print, my doctor checked “NO” under “ABILITY TO WORK” and continued to fill out the form.

So, even though the government guarantor had ALL of the necessary information which explained how I am unable to work, because the wrong checkbox had a check in it, I get to start this loan-forgiveness process all over again. 🙂 Including hits to my credit record for having not paid on this loan for more than 6 months while we’ve been waiting to find out why they haven’t been taking the loan off my hands to begin with.

All for want of one check box being inaccurately marked.

Don’t you love bureaucracy?

When it comes to being disabled and needing assistance – when you really genuinely need help, it is up to you to be this level of persistent and diligent.

You must doggedly fight to prove what they already know.

To them, it’s only money. It’s just business. Nevermind that on your end, it’s your life that you’re having to prove to them again and again and again. You can’t take it personally or let your pride come into it. Pride is a luxury for fools who haven’t felt it stripped away too many times to bother with it anyway. Ain’t no pride in student loan debt collection when you can’t practice your profession anyhow.

I wonder how many years I have to suffer with these indignities before I can just let law school’s memory die.

Edit: Ok, that was a shitty attitude to have when I first posted this.