I'm 25, spinning my wheels in the mud. Can you help?

Well, it's nearly impossible for me to differentiate myself from the thousands of others out there in similar situations as myself. I'm merely one of many, and I thought I'd take a new approach to trying to find ways out of this situation without absolving myself of any responsibility for the loans. I want to pay them off. It's my obligation to do so. However, I want to partake in the local economy, I want to use my money to help strengthen this country rather than help pad the big banks reserves, and I thought maybe there's a like minded individual on here who could work something out with me. I'm not looking for handouts, there's plenty of good charities in the world that need it more than I do. I'm looking for someone to work with me, help me help myself, and in doing so help the local and state economy.

I accrued this much debt because I went to a locally renowned Liberal Arts school for my CSci degree, something that ultimately got me a job that I am thankful for, but still is not nearly worth the burden of the loan payments. It's a bit of a perfect storm. Middle class family, but parents have their own debt so they didn't help at all. White guy with a 3.9 GPA, so I wasn't really breaking down the doors of any notable scholarships. Additionally.. growing up, I didn't know anything about how to handle money. It's clear to me now that my parents didn't either, but at the time I simply took their guidance as the word of law. My mom recommended to me that I not work while in school, so that I could focus 100% on my school work. Fine. My mom also recommended to me that I borrow the maximum allowable amount every semester, and that I store whatever leftover I have in my bank account. That way I can start paying off loans as soon as I graduate. Obviously, the logic is severely flawed and the math stupidly obvious. But I was young, and didn't know any better. If I had a do-over, I'd simply try my hand at learning code myself and then get a few certs. None of this 4 year $200,000 education business. The banks were very happy to throw the money at me, though.

/r/Assistance Thread Parent