I didn’t grow up with money. My boyfriend’s family were upper middle class. They have traveled a lot since he was younger (think it was 48 countries he has been to) and he had no loans for college.

I didn’t leave the U.S. until I was 20 (a weekend in Canada), and any trips I had done were mostly on the East Coast. He can’t grasp what it’s like to not be able to travel. He also jumped into his IT career right away since he has a bachelor’s in computer science. Because I was abused by my mother as a child, I wanted to get a job that helped people. I took out loans for college and had to babysit and nanny for five-and-a-half years to pay off my BA by 27. What I do for work isn’t seen as a “real job.” I’m lucky I even have a job. I went to grad school at 28 and received my MA a few weeks ago at the age of 30. I paid that first semester out of my own pocket (over 7K) and the rest came from an inheritance after my grandfather died and it’s all gone. It all went to school, a couple months of rent and a few days in Iceland. My boyfriend did not need an advanced degree for his career because he did STEM. I had to help people because of my past and still babysit until something else comes along. My boyfriend has also said that grades didn’t matter because employers don’t care. You would expelled from my grad school if you had anything lower than a B-. My high GPA from college allowed me to waive the GRE requirement (and saved money) and I received the full scholarship for a travel seminar to Ireland last summer for one of my courses. So grades do matter. They are important to me on a personal level, too. I am damn proud of my 4.0 from grad school.