Public health researcher, recent PA Congressional candidate, and student debt cancellation advocate Alexandra Hunt speaks to host Shanna about the burden of student debt on many like herself. Alexandra spoke up about student debt and education reform during her recent political campaign. Listen to what she learned from her own experiences and her campaign!
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Transcript:
[00:00:05] Shanna Bennett: Hi, I’m Shanna Bennett. And I’m here with Alexandra Hunt, public health researcher, a girl’s soccer coach, and an advocate for social racial, economic, and environmental justice.
[00:00:20] And she was recently running for a PA Congressional seat and you’re listening to Matter of Life and Debt. Welcome to the podcast! Hey Alexandra.
[00:00:30] Alexandra Hunt: Hey, thank you for having me here. It’s good to be here.
Shanna Bennett: Thank you for being here. You were running for a PA congressional seat. We’ve noticed that more and more folks with platforms, and more and more politicians are talking about student debt and student debt cancellation. We’ve seen some of your tweets, it caught our attention and we thought it might be a good idea to have a conversation. So let’s dive in. Was student debt a motivator for you running for Congress?
[00:00:57] Alexandra Hunt: I think the thing that pushed me over the edge was the circumstances of my community and people in Pennsylvania. People in PA-03 are very much impacted by the education system and the way it’s set up. And it’s set up to cater towards people and young people who are born into wealth rather than people who want to climb the ladder through educational means.
[00:01:20] So, absolutely. And on top of that, I have student debt. And trying to pay it off as a young person starting out on a pretty low wage, despite having two degrees, was very, very stressful before it was put on pause.
Shanna Bennett: You mentioned, or at least in your bio, I was reading about your brother, and his learning disability and that being a motivator for you as well. Does that also tie into education being important to you?
[00:01:47] Alexandra Hunt: Oh, absolutely. And both my parents are teachers. So I was raised with the belief that education is the ladder to opportunity. And so that’s how we, kind of, can understand the world and also how we can figure out what our places in this world is through education and through learning and through teachers. Both my brother and my parents played a very big role in how I perceive the world. And then also what I decided to run on.
[00:02:16] Shanna Bennett: Do you mind sharing how much student debt you have?
[00:02:19] Alexandra Hunt: Don’t know the exact amount, but it’s over $100,000. I think it’s maybe like $113,000 right around there.
[00:02:26] Shanna Bennett: Yeah, I’m hovering at $131,000 right now. Have you been in a time of repayment when you were having to repay that amount?
[00:02:34] Alexandra Hunt: Yes.
[00:02:35] The burden of it is unbelievable. The stress of it is unbelievable. I was running for Congress. I was still working full time and our loan repayments were supposed to restart in January. That was something that was looming over all us debt holders’ heads. And I went to my job and I had to advocate for an increase in my salary because I wasn’t gonna be able to afford life plus student debt repayment. And I think that that lens should draw in a lot more corporations into this fight because it’s a built in wage increase, salary increase that they don’t actually have to pay for, the government does.
[00:03:17] Shanna Bennett: That’s a really good point. That’s a really good point. And we’ve seen unions and other organizations kind of join that fight, but I don’t think we’ve seen the greater, corporate America get behind that. It’s unfortunate. I’m not quite sure why we don’t see that.
[00:03:30] I think on the flip side we’ve seen where organizations will have it as a benefit, you know, to kinda lure new talent into positions. I think more and more organizations are doing that, but that’s really all I’ve seen. You know, you spoke of the burden of repayment. I think that’s a really important point to highlight as well.
[00:03:48] In my experience, when we talk about student debt and student debt cancellation, the perception is that we’re lazy and we’re looking for a handout and we don’t wanna work. But we’re actually folks that actually are feeling the burden. We wanna be responsible citizens. It’s very stressful. In our last episode, we were talking about the rates of anxiety and suicide and all these things that are, going through our minds because it’s incredibly stressful.
[00:04:12] Alexandra Hunt: I think the average loan payment is hovering right under $400 a month right now. And that’s ridiculous. That’s a really good point that you brought up about mental health. The impacts on mental health, but also that it does lead to suicide ideation and also potential suicide because one of the unfortunate, successful messaging themes with the New York City taxi protest and union were talking about how the debt led to their members actually committing suicide. And it is important to recognize that the stress, being under the burden of student debt with no help from anyone isn’t about being lazy, but it’s about really suffering and struggling.
[00:04:56] Shanna Bennett: Where do you think the disconnect is between folks that are pushing for cancellation and pushing for awareness around higher ed financing reform and people that are saying, well, no, if you’re gonna do that, cancel this too?
Alexandra Hunt: I think it’s multifaceted. There is a rhetoric that working people, poor people are just looking for a handout. That they’re lazy. That was kind of around before student debt and this plays into it because who has to take out a student loan? Not the rich, not the people who can afford education, but middle America, working America.
[00:05:30] I think for impoverished America, it’s not even on the table. And that’s a whole other conversation about the lack of job opportunity that they then have. I think that we need to recognize that keeping higher ed is something that can be only afforded by middle or wealthy America. It causes racial disparities within those who attend higher education.
[00:05:56] And so that rhetoric is something that has also been around, different racial groups. Unfortunately.
[00:06:02] Shanna Bennett: Right, right. Agree. And I think that’s really unfortunate too. Something that we try to call attention to is that, when you go far back in history and look at who was attending colleges, it was traditionally, wealthy white men. These are the people that were getting an education.
[00:06:16] And the goal of student loans at least originally was to encourage more people to study the sciences, engineering and various science majors, and to kind of open the doors a bit to access, but we’re still having an issue of access. No one should be in the kind of debt that we are in for getting a higher education. It just doesn’t make any sense. and this might be a little redundant, but, what would student debt cancellation mean for you?
[00:06:42] Alexandra Hunt: For me, it would allow me to start seriously thinking about family planning. It would allow me to start saving, to buy a house. I was looking at right now we are combating inflation, some pretty extreme inflation. I think it’s the worst we’ve seen in over 80 years. And I was looking at the health of US households and its flat lining.
[00:07:05] And that is because the average US household has higher liabilities, higher debt and fewer assets. We don’t own homes. We can’t really afford to actually own property, which increases the health and wealth of a household. And it’s because we are burdened with student debt and younger generations are becoming the biggest generations as older generations die.
[00:07:28] Shanna Bennett: I think it’s tough too, because I think for the older generations, when they look at us, they’re saying, well, I was able to work for a summer and pay off my student debt. And I was able to get a job and paid it off right away without sometimes acknowledging we’re in a completely different time right now.
[00:07:44] I think the average student debt holder is like $30K, graduating with about $30K in federal student debt. So it’s just not the same. It’s just not the same.
[00:07:52] Alexandra Hunt: Nope. I worked all through my educational experience and I have over $100,000 in debt. It’s just not enough.
[00:08:00] Shanna Bennett: Right. Something I like to highlight too, is there are certain programs that don’t want you to work while you’re attending their program or their school. And so you have to sustain yourself somehow. And so we have a lot of folks that are also using those funds to support themselves.
[00:08:14] It’s interesting. Again, a little redundant maybe, but how has student debt affected your life or the life of your friends and family?
[00:08:22] Alexandra Hunt: So one of the things that I did on my social media platform was I asked for people to share their student debt stories. And what I found was the impact of student debt is so similar across the board. But we don’t talk about it because we feel ashamed, for struggling so much. when we’re kind of gaslit by people who don’t have student debt and understand the struggles. Like, you know, you’re just lazy and asking for a handout, everyone else is fine, or at least you got to go to college.
[00:08:49] That sort of dialogue. For me, when I was in repayment, it impacted my groceries and I wasn’t able to buy enough groceries to properly feed myself and my dog. And so I was having to choose. I’ve heard from some people that they were having to choose between groceries, student debt and menstrual items, because those are more expensive.
[00:09:13] I’ve heard from some people that they did not feel comfortable dating anyone seriously because they didn’t want to share the debt burden and felt very ashamed of that. I’ve heard people talk about the anxiety that they just had to live with being under student debt and just every single month, not quite cutting it or just watching their bank account go down and down and down into pennies.
[00:09:37] Knowing that another student debt repayment was coming the following month.
[00:09:41] Shanna Bennett: It’s unreal. What are your thoughts on, the Biden Administration continuing to extend this pause, but also there’s this game of saying, Hey, we’re gonna make an announcement soon. Wait, no, we’re not waiting. We’re gonna make an announcement no, we’re not like that kind of a thing.
[00:09:56] What are your thoughts on that?
[00:09:57] Alexandra Hunt: I think it’s really cruel. I think it shows a lack of understanding of the pressure and anxiety that comes from student debt repayment. I feel like I’m saying it again and again, but it is so stressful to live with student debt and when it was turning back on in January that it was immediately like, okay, how am I gonna tighten my belt this time?
[00:10:18] And what do I need to shift around? How do I get more uncomfortable so that I can afford this? And also going to my job and being uncomfortable there by asking for a raise. It’s just, the lack of action and the leading on a whole generation, younger generation of people is really, really cruel.
[00:10:38] Shanna Bennett: It is. We can’t plan, we can’t budget. I mean, when you’re talking about people too, that have the significant burdens that you and I have, we’re talking six figures of student loan debt. Right. And for me, maybe, $90,000 or so plus of that is federal. Those are major numbers.
[00:10:52] That’s life changing. And so for you to tell me one month that you’re gonna make an announcement and then tell me another month.
[00:10:58] It’s just, it’s a lot. And it’s really unfortunate.
[00:11:00] Alexandra Hunt: It’s an emotional roller coaster.
[00:11:02] Shanna Bennett: It is, it shows, kind of to piggyback what you were saying, just a lack of understanding, a lack of connection with borrowers. I think there’s also this element of because you know, Biden has canceled student debt for several groups. But I think it’s always presented as if we are being done a favor.
[00:11:20] And it’s kind of like this thing where Biden has canceled how many billions of dollars of student debt. At this moment, not acknowledging that the burden we’re talking about is a trillion dollar burden. And so billions sound nice, but they’re really a small fraction of the overall burden.
[00:11:34] Alexandra Hunt: Right. And something that makes me get my claws out is when people call it student loan forgiveness, and I’m like, what the heck are we being forgiven for? We climbed the education ladder seeking the opportunity that we were promised in the American dream. Now we’re part of the workforce working our butts off as hard as we can during this looming doomsday that we’re facing in this country. What are we being forgiven for? We’re giving, giving, giving.
[00:11:59] So I can’t stand when it’s called loan forgiveness and it’s painted as I’m being so good to you and you should be grateful for the crumbs.
[00:12:07] Shanna Bennett: Exactly. Meanwhile, a lot of the debt that Biden’s canceled recently, especially the ones around the PSLF waiver where they’ve tried to restructure some of these federal repayment programs, where a lot of these payment programs have been mismanaged over the years. And so to go in and restructure or to cancel debt for groups that should have already been canceled for it. You’re not doing us a favor. You’re cleaning up. You’re cleaning up a mess is what you’re doing. I think it was Mitt Romney that called, what Biden’s doing with student debt cancellation, a bribe. He called it like a bribe for voters. I mean, in terms of polling and how to gain favor, if he were to cancel student debt, do you think that borrowers would show up and vote for him in the next election?
[00:12:47] Alexandra Hunt: Well, I think he has a really serious problem right now. And, that problem is inflation. And I think one way to combat inflation and a potential recession is to cancel student debt. Is to do something really, really big quickly, to try to close the gap of the cost of living and what people are making.
[00:13:06] The other thing is to tax rich people. Which is a different conversation. But I think President Biden, whether or not he does this out of a bribe or out of the goodness of his heart, I personally do not care. And I think that we voters understand that and also just whatever gets it done.
[00:13:24] I mean, we are also holding it over his head. Saying, we’re not gonna vote for you if you don’t do anything for us.
[00:13:30] Shanna Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. I agree. And it has been nice to see, some groups get cancellation, but the greater majority of us are sitting here going, what about me? Don’t forget about me. So that’s interesting. What advice would you give to your younger self about student debt? Would you do anything differently?
[00:13:45] Alexandra Hunt: I would. I would do things differently. We are expected to figure out what we wanna do pretty much from the age of 17 and then go to college on that path. I graduated college in three years and I went straight into a master’s program and I wasn’t sure if I was going to get a certificate or a degree that first year.
[00:14:05] So that first year was funded by a private loan. And then the second year was funded by a federal loan. And so I have both federal and private student loan debt, and that is messy. They do not talk to each other. They do not care about talking to each other. And that’s why my monthly payments are so high.
[00:14:22] So my advice to my younger self would’ve been to take a breath, figure out what it is that you want because making mistakes really, really costs you in education. Or not even a mistake, but just like taking time to figure it out. You don’t want anything to do with private student loans.
[00:14:37] Shanna Bennett: No, you don’t. That’s a really good point. I’ve been able to wrangle my federal, but like you said, the private ones are just wild. I found them to be very difficult to communicate with, very difficult to negotiate with, less payment term options or less options for repayment. If I were to answer that question, I think I would’ve said the same thing.
[00:14:55] I think I would’ve added just to slow down. You don’t have to do the full four year program right away. You could take a class here and there, keep working. but that’s not how it’s sold to us. It really is sold as a shiny package. Come stay here, stay on campus, get the meal plan, buy the book.
Alexandra Hunt: Yeah. And it’s very much a bubble, I don’t think you really accurately understand how to function in the world until after the bubble. And then it’s just like a whew, a shock system.
[00:15:21] Shanna Bennett: Yes. And also to your point, at 17, 18, what do you know? What do you know at 17, 18? I think there’s some that know, like, you know, from birth, they know exactly what they’re gonna do and they know what path they need to be on, but, our brains aren’t fully formed until what 24-25? And I dare say that I think the banks know that. I don’t know about you, but I’m single and dating. And on one of my dating profiles, there’s like a prompt- it’s like tell us something you’re passionate about. And I said, student debt cancellation. And I had someone talk to me recently and it was the very typical, no, you took out a loan, you signed the contract, you should pay it back. And so I’m trying to explain it’s actually not so cut and dry. And so we get into it and he says, well, it’s a contract and you should have an attorney review it.
[00:16:01] And so now we’re having a conversation about access. Not everyone has access to an attorney at 18 years old. I’m sorry. They’re not well versed on reviewing contracts. so to that guy, I just wanna say no,
[00:16:15] Alexandra Hunt: Unmatch or whatever, like no.
[00:16:22] Shanna Bennett: It’s not gonna work out. So in terms of student debt, some of us, in other conversations have realized that we are the ones that are carrying a debt burden in our family. Do your other family members also share student debt burdens or no?
[00:16:35] Alexandra Hunt: No. My mother is British. And she grew up in the UK and they don’t have to pay for education. But one of the things that she thinks I mean, she thinks a lot of things about the United States, but she thought it was kind of scammy. In order for her to get a better paying job as a teacher, she would have to go through the American education system.
[00:16:59] She would have to pay for it to get a United States teaching license. And even if she’s been teaching for decades as a very qualified teacher, good teacher, they make it so that you have to go through their own pipeline and it’s a very expensive pipeline.
[00:17:15] So she refused to do that. And, I think, never saw the full potential of her paycheck. My father is older and so education was not as expensive and doesn’t have debt at this point. And then my twin brother, he tried college. And I think he was a semester away from graduating, but it was so hard on him, the college experience.
[00:17:41] And so he dropped out and doesn’t have any debt. So it’s just me. But my dad, when I was in repayment, he could tell that I was under so much stress and, he started trying to play the lottery to find some way to pay off student debt and like, it’s just not his personality or his style to gamble at all, but didn’t know what else to do to try to help me.
[00:18:01] Shanna Bennett: Right, right. My mom, I have a similar story. My mom, so we’re also immigrants to the US. And so she, I think, looked into it. She was also a teacher for many years. She looked into what I guess the equivalent degree would be or something, or how many credits she would need or something. And the same thing, realized that it was really expensive and just never did it.
[00:18:21] And went from being a high school teacher in Jamaica to kind of nannying and babysitting and being a daycare provider, which she also loved. It was very fulfilling. But I think her heart was more so in the more formal teaching environment.
[00:18:33] So I think that’s interesting.
[00:18:35] and something else we focus on too, is the interest. Why charge us interest? If you’re gonna charge us at all, why is it that the wealthy can pay the sticker price? And then middle class, lower class folks are paying interest on it?
[00:18:45] Alexandra Hunt: To hold us down.
[00:18:47] Shanna Bennett: Exactly. Okay.
[00:18:50] Alexandra Hunt: No. It’s very obvious and we still are struggling so hard to get it overturned and to get people to listen and to understand.
[00:18:58] Shanna Bennett: Have you had any unusual experiences while campaigning and talking about student debt?
[00:19:03] Alexandra Hunt: Yes, I had one woman chase me down the road about my student debt stance. And she was saying all, I mean, it’s always the same arguments of, well, my mom paid off her debt. What about the people who already paid off their debt? What about the people who decide not to go to college? Da, da, da, da.
[00:19:20] it’s just so redundant it misses the big picture of, okay, well, everybody should, education’s a human right and we’re kind of sweeping the legs out beneath a whole generation by not properly educating them and not building opportunity, which we are seeing the impact of.
[00:19:37] And if people paid off their student debt already, it sounds like they are in a different position in their economic status than people who have it. So good for them. It’s not the same situation.
[00:19:49] Shanna Bennett: Do you have any thoughts on the Biden administration kicking around? The idea of means testing? If they were to do some kind of wide scale student debt cancellation at that $10,000 mark, for example, any thoughts on that?
[00:20:01] Alexandra Hunt: I think it’s the same thing. With the delay in taking action and just extending the pause each time. I think it’s cruel to means test working and poor people who are really counting on it and who have their lives for it.
[00:20:14] Shanna Bennett: And I’ve read one or two articles too, that suggest the burden of that, of an additional application process, let’s say, because essentially the Department of Education doesn’t have access to our IRS filings, in terms of doing that means testing . So they won’t even really be able to say who’s actually making under $150K if that’s the number that they wanna go with.
[00:20:34] Which means an additional application process, more work on the borrower. It stands to delay cancellation. it just doesn’t seem to be the more efficient route. Instead of just doing it automatically, that way everyone gets it.
[00:20:46] Alexandra Hunt: Yep. That’s it, just cancel it all. It’s so much easier. Sign the paper Biden.
[00:20:51] Shanna Bennett: Seriously.
[00:20:51] But back to your dad, playing the lottery to try to help, we’ve heard so many stories like that.
Alexandra Hunt: That’s just awful. You have people working multiple jobs. I worked multiple jobs when I was in repayment. We’re all trying to figure it out.
[00:21:04] Another piece of my run for Congress was that I worked as a stripper during college and then I also recently made an Only Fans. These are all ways that people are turning to. A lot of people are turning towards creating and digital organizing in order to make that extra money.
[00:21:23] People are like, well, it’s not a real job. And, it still goes into that lazy rhetoric looking for a handout when people are working 1, 2, 3 jobs, trying to pay all their living expenses.
[00:21:34] Shanna Bennett: I mean, that’s a conversation we were having before you joined. One of our producers, Emma who’s on the call with us right now was just talking about all of the different things that she’s doing. I mean, she’s a perfect example of someone that’s serious about getting out of debt and is taking on numerous jobs to do that.
[00:21:48] We did an episode with Jennifer Stein who was running for a seat in California. She too was talking about being a single mom and working multiple jobs and going to school to become a nurse. And it’s like, these people do not sound like the lazy folks that we’re talking about. I think it’s really important to highlight that.
[00:22:06]Alexandra Hunt: I don’t think I don’t think these lazy folks exist.
[00:22:09] Shanna Bennett: When I was reading your bio, I read that your family was living in the city and there was a violent incident. And then you moved to the suburbs. Right?
[00:22:18] Alexandra Hunt: Yep.
[00:22:18] Shanna Bennett: Did you see a difference in your education?
[00:22:20] Alexandra Hunt: No. So I always went to school where my parents taught. But the experience that I had with the kids in the city who were going to city schools, versus the kids in the suburbs who were going to suburban schools was so different. And during my childhood, I can’t remember if it was a county step or a statewide step, but they tried to- and this is in secondary education- they tried to close the disparities that were forming between city and suburban public schools. So they were going to take suburban taxes and put them into city schools to raise their level. Well, the suburbs were in an uproar. They went and got their torches and just absolutely not. They felt like they were losing things. It would not have impacted their schools whatsoever. It would’ve simply helped city schools that are in total disarray in Rochester. And now, especially in Philly too. I’m much more familiar with the conditions of Philadelphia schools, and it is horrifying to have kids sitting in a classroom without air conditioning in this extreme heat. Sometimes they miss out on school lunch because it’s so underfunded. And there was a classroom where the ceiling fell in on them. And it’s just like, what are you teaching children that the outside world feels about them, that their country feels about them?
[00:23:36] It’s that we do not care. And that is how that contributes to this escalating climate of violence that we’re seeing because kids are growing up believing that nobody cares. Nobody’s fighting for me. And the government hates me because I need a little bit of extra help.
[00:23:52] Shanna Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. And then you get to college and one book is like $500 and you’re like, what is happening? It’s like, do I eat or do I buy this book? It’s unreal.
[00:23:59] I remember selling some of my clothes in college so that we could afford to go out for Chinese food. If you think about it, that’s what, like maybe a $15 meal, selling two shirts so you can go out to eat. It’s just, it’s unfortunate.
[00:24:11] Alexandra Hunt: Did you work during college?
[00:24:13] Shanna Bennett: Good question. On and off, on and off. I did a little bit of retail. I did a little bit of hosting, and I think it wasn’t really until graduate school for me that it clicked how much money I was spending on my education. It really wasn’t until then that I think I matured and was more aware and started making smarter choices.
[00:24:31] Alexandra Hunt: Well,it sounds like what you were living off of was the living stipend included in your student loans,
[00:24:37] Shanna Bennett: The leftover, you get a little extra. Yeah.
[00:24:39] Alexandra Hunt: Which was like $1100. Well, for me it was like $1100 or something that was supposed to stretch over a semester.
[00:24:44] Shanna Bennett: Oh yeah.
[00:24:45] Alexandra Hunt: I met some Temple University college students, I met with them. And they were talking about how the cost of the university has gone up, but it closes the living expense, like stipend leftover amount.
[00:24:58] And so they can barely afford housing and they can barely afford their meal expenses because they’re paying the university fees and then they’re paying for those really, really expensive books. And they either have to go take out another loan or really tighten. So even in college, people are struggling before they’re in repayment.
[00:25:15] Shanna Bennett: Right. That’s a really good point. And when I look back, I think I only had two friends that seemed to be operating a little bit differently. I think one of my girlfriends at the time, I think her dad might have been an accountant and she’s working here and she’s taking the leftovers and she’s investing and like, what are you doing? but that was it. I think everyone else was pretty clueless. Wait, where’d you go to school?
[00:25:33] Shanna Bennett: So I went to the University of Pittsburgh up there in the cold, why? I don’t know, it was freezing. And then I went to Westchester University for a graduate program. Where did you go?
[00:25:42] Alexandra Hunt: I went to the University of Richmond.
[00:25:44] So having money to invest in things, not really having the student debt burden or issue was pretty common in the University of Richmond. They had much more affluent backgrounds, and I felt like I did not quite mesh with them, given that I was there with a pretty generous financial aid package.
[00:26:01] Shanna Bennett: And having to work and yeah it was just very different the more conversations we have like this, the more we realize how similar our experiences are. And I like the fact that you’re highlighting some of the things that we’ve had to do for money just to survive, just to be able to eat and live. Something that I’ve been talking about recently is this concept of time poverty. Not really having any time for yourself, that usually affects women, specifically women who are maybe supporting a family. So if you have income generating work and then you have domestic tasks at home that traditionally, still women are taking on more than men are for example, you end up with very little time for yourself.
[00:26:42] So you are grabbing food as you go. There’s no time for relaxing. You’re not getting a lot of sleep. You’re postponing, you’re pushing off, medical related appointments. So it ends up affecting your health and your wellbeing. And especially for folks that don’t have a lot of access to resources, it can be really difficult. And I think that goes to the same thing, when you’re in debt and you’re working like 15 jobs to be able to get by. It’s a lot on your system.
[00:27:08] Alexandra Hunt: And to tie into that you were mentioning that you’re single. I’m also single. And so all of the household, tasks and chores fall to the single woman, as well as, all of the bills and women don’t make as much on the dollar as men, especially black women. And, so it’s penalizing people for not rushing into marriage in order to pay their bills.
[00:27:32] Shanna Bennett: That’s perfect. I’ve seen whole TikToks where It’s like, do I want companionship or am I just looking for someone to share the capitalistic burden with?
[00:27:40] Alexandra Hunt: And that’s why sugar daddies, sugar mommies are becoming such a big thing. Yeah. Because you don’t rush into that lifelong relationship, but you still want your bills to be paid, cause yeah, they’re a lot.
[00:27:51] Shanna Bennett: Yeah. Yeah. It’s a lot. All things to think about Alexandra. You’re giving me ideas. I keep thinking about your time campaigning and you know, talking with a lot of folks about student debt. if there’s anything you wanna share regarding that,
[00:28:04] Alexandra Hunt: just that it’s so important. it’s so important to voters, especially young voters. It draws them in, captures their attention. And I think that any candidate running for office should pay attention to where the energy is. And there’s a lot around student debt cancellation. And I also think that corporations should get involved too, because this way they don’t have to raise people’s salaries, which they don’t want to do.
[00:28:27] And it comes out of the government’s pocket.
[00:28:29] Shanna Bennett: I love that. I’ve seen where people take the snapshot of the 44 or 45 million people that have federal student debt. And they say, well, that’s not really a large portion of America, you know, but what’s happening is the ideas are spreading. And so, our friends, our family, boyfriends, girlfriends, whatever it is, people are starting to realize.
[00:28:48] Yeah, no, it’s a lot. The people that we love are burdened by student debt. So it’s actually becoming more and more popular. So thank you for highlighting that..
[00:28:56] Is there anything that you wanna promote Alexandra?
[00:28:58] Alexandra Hunt: Well, I am no longer running for office, but I am staying very involved. And so if you want to get involved in local politics or in Philadelphia issues, I’m definitely around and willing to chat with anyone. If you’re looking for tips on how to run for office or how to get involved in electoral politics, I’m also here. And from a promotional sense, I think student debt is going to be one of the topics of the summer.
[00:29:26] And so keep talking about it and causing a ruckus.
[00:29:29] Shanna Bennett: I like that. And where can the people find you?
[00:29:31] Alexandra Hunt: I am on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook, and I am at @thealexandrahunt for TikTok and Instagram and trying to get that changed on Twitter as well.
[00:29:44] Shanna Bennett: Thank you so much for your time. This has been a fun conversation. I don’t know what your political future holds, but if you ever consider running again, we would love it. We love having women like you, who are standing for the issues that we care about and using your platform to talk about things like student debt.
[00:30:00] Thank you so much for that. And come back anytime, come back and chat with us.
[00:30:04] Alexandra Hunt: Thank you. Thank you for having me. It was a great conversation. I enjoyed just you sharing your story and being so honest and open about it as well.
[00:30:11] Shanna Bennett: Oh my gosh. Thank you.
If you liked this episode of Matter of Life and Debt, subscribe and share it with a friend. It really helps people discover us. Matter of Life and Debt is hosted by me, Shanna. It is produced by Shanna Bennett, Emma Klauber, Talia Mole, and Nikki Nolan.
[00:30:38] It is edited by Nikki Nolan and Talia Mole, transcripts and writing is done by Emma Klauber. Efe Akerman created the theme music.
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