Ep. 56 - Earning a Debt-Free Degree - Grace Heitkamp, Nursing Student

Welcome back to the Joust About Careers podcast! This episode features a conversation with Grace Heitkamp, a 2021 Van Buren High School graduate who is a nursing student working toward a debt-free degree. Grace shares about where she currently is on her career journey, how she decided to start working toward graduating from college debt-free, what steps are helping her achieve that goal, how BGSU is actually paying her to attend school, and much more.  Anyone interested in pursuing a debt-free degree will find information related to starting down that path in this episode.  Enjoy the show!   1:53 - Update on Grace’s post-high school path  2:06 - Planned to major in interior design but felt a pull toward nursing  3:12 - Grace’s purpose - healthcare  3:25 - Doubts led to Grace not starting college with a nursing focus  4:05 - What led to Grace pursuing a debt-free degree  5:18 - Started to earn CCP credits as the first step  6:00 - Scholarships are very important in the debt-free degree process  6:43 - Grace filled out 150 scholarship applications while in high school.  7:14 - How much money Grace earned through scholarships  7:53 - BGSU actually pays Grace to attend school.  9:07 - The hardest part about graduating from college debt-free  9:46 - Continuing to fill out scholarships even after starting college  10:17 - Some friends are also working toward debt-free degrees.  11:08 - Excitement about being able to help other people  11:27 - Graduating debt-free is freeing  12:17 - Positives of attending BGSU  13:03 - If attending BGSU, apply for the Thompson Scholarship  13:55 - Grace’s advice - Don’t fear change or failure.   Questions?  Connect with Brian on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-bratt/) or e-mail ([email protected]).  Connect with Grace by e-mail ([email protected]).