http://www.indiegogo.com/savenick

Save Nick: The Basics

I’m Nick. I’m 30 years old. I’m a Georgetown Law graduate.

And I live with my parents.

When I was 22, I borrowed over $160,000 to attend law school. Halfway through, I finally found the courage to admit what I had known all along: I belonged in the arts.

Despite having worked consistently since graduation – albeit not in a legal capacity – I’m crippled by student loans. At this rate, I’ll be living with my parents well into my 40s.

That’s where you come along.

But this isn’t just some high-tech panhandling. This is 21st century street busking. In return for your generosity, I will create – movies, music, stories, pictures, poems – and do so specifically for you, with more spectacular and involved works going to those more giving (see perks on the right).

In addition, to help fight suicide (see "Save Nick & The Student Loan Crisis" below), I will donate 10% of my proceeds to Active Minds, an organization dedicated to suicide prevention and mental health education among college students.

Save Nick: The Creator

Perhaps you're considering a donation, but you're wondering about my qualifications as an artist. Well, I prefer showing to telling. Click on any of the numerous links below, and it will take you to one of my favorite projects, which include a poetry blog, an album of cinematic electro-pop, and my feature-length fictitious documentary, an official selection of the 2004 Ivy Film Festival, Skeeter Hammond: Handles, Hops, and the Fourth Dimension. 

Also, if you click the "Gallery" tab above, you'll get a chance to see some of my short films, as well as a handful of photographs. 

For more information on my credentials, feel free to contact me at the email address below.

Save Nick & The Student Loan Crisis

Though my current debt – just over $145,000 – is higher than the average amount owed, the issues related to my debt are common to many of the millions struggling with student loans. Countless people have had to move back in with their parents, postpone marriage and children, and spend every day grasping for hope that they may eventually be free and clear of their daunting financial burdens.

But the student loan crisis isn’t just crippling people financially. It’s also claiming lives. In her 2012 article entitled “The Ones We’ve Lost: The Student Loan Suicides,” C. Cryn Johannsen detailed the stories of several people who have chosen to end their own lives rather than face the insurmountable debt they assumed to get what others proclaimed was a necessary college education.

Other Ways You Can Help

I know. Most people who see this page are the very choir I'm preaching to. Many of you  can't afford your own student loans, let alone spare a few dollars for someone else's. 

You can still help. 

It's like the inimitable Kanye West sang on the underrated 808s & Heartbreak: "Tell everybody that you know." Post it on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ (if that's still around). Write your congressperson. Spread the word that the student loan crisis is so bad that there is a 30-year-old man with a tramp stamp (did you watch the whole video?) who is baring forth his soul on the internet just for a shot to escape his debt and finally move out of his parents’ house. 

Thank you so much for your time.

Now – let's save Nick. 

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2067105&forum_id=2#21697255)

1. With IBR, why would student loans ever be an excuse to live with your parents? If you make <20k you pay $0, and while that's not much, it's enough to live with roommates. If you make like $60k it's only like $400/month.

2. If you leave the country and default on your debt, would it be difficult to visit your family?

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2067105&forum_id=2#21697395)

"If you make <20k you pay $0, and while that's not much, it's enough to live with roommates. If you make like $60k it's only like $400/month."

really? is this true? can someone weigh in on this since i don't know anything about IBR. anyway, this guy said he made like $45K last year. I was reading another post on another site where a guy makes $50K and has $1,400 month payments:

"I live in the Chicago area, single, and paid $50k a year. Subtract $30k in living expenses, $16,800 for loans (for the next 20-30 years depending on your plan) and that leaves me with $3,200 a year in spare money. If I get sick, my car breaks down, or I go out a little too much I am left with no savings after a full year of working 40-60 hours a week. My car broke down twice this year. You better really love being an attorney."

do these kids just have private loans or what

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2067105&forum_id=2#21697453)

see the chart. i underestimated by a little, but not by much.

yeah seems like this guy graduated a while ago, so it's possible his loans are private. i truly feel bad for him if that's the case.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2067105&forum_id=2#21697455)