It's become a monthly ritual, taking the time between two part-time jobs to dump all the money I make on two dismal salaries back into the banks.

I have about 16 loans to pay off on five separate accounts. That's five separate account numbers, usernames, passwords, PINs, picture verifications and sample questions to remember and keep track of. If I get one of those pieces of information wrong more than once, the banks suspend the account it's attached to, meaning I have to call the bank, provide all my personal information over the phone and explain the situation to receive a new password. This has happened twice already for two sets of payments.

If I hadn't gone to school, or at least a good school, I could have used the loans I'm paying off to buy a house, and not a shabby one. And a car. Instead, I'm stuck living with my parents, who expect me to pay them for the car they inherited on my behalf ... at least when I have the money, which I never will.

I could have taken accounting or business, with the same tuition I'm paying off, and jumped into a job that paid me enough to kill all the anxiety over student loans by swiping a piece of plastic a couple times. I could have deferred payments or consolidated loans, pretty much handing the banks steroids to feed interest rates growing to a level beyond what I'd be able to pay off, even with a non-starting-level salary in my field.

I don't regret the school I chose or the degree I have. I know I'm still in a good situation. I wouldn't have been able to cover loan payments at all if I hadn't lucked into a second job here, one actually in my field.

It's just frustrating.

I got a call from McDonald's at 6:45 a.m. today, my scheduled day off. I had a chance to fill in for someone who called in sick, and I took advantage of it because my hours have been reduced a lot lately because it's a slow time of the year. I need to work as much as I can, even on days off.

Even though I got home and tried to log on to make a loan payment, only to find the account suspended, another problem I have to fix between two jobs.

Now that my complaints have been filed, I can talk about the things that make me happy. I have a loving, supportive family. I have a job with a newspaper, a part-time one that's given me valuable experience. I found two job openings in the last two weeks that give me my next big opportunity. I have a network of friends, professors and coworkers who root for me and let me know it. For all the grief I feel over student loans, it's worth all the experiences they paid for. I have a wonderful girlfriend who pulls me up emotionally and brings me warmth when I need it the most. This weekend, she's coming to visit, and my aunt's having a Super Bowl party.

And I won't need a username or password to enjoy it.