I’m Melissa and have been a high school teacher in NYC for the last 10 years. I graduated from college in 2010 with my Masters degree in Adolescent Education and about 55,000 dollars in student loan debt. In 2013, when attempting to buy my first home, I learned that my financial life wasn’t as strong as I thought it was,, and that my student loan debt was ballooning into 6 figures worth of debt. I then shifted all of my energy into learning how to use money as a tool while attacking my student loans aggressively. I paid off 102,000 dollars in student loans in December 2018, and closed on my first home January 2019. I was proud of myself and all of my efforts, but I was frustrated with how much I didn’t know, and had to learn the hard way. As an educator I made it my mission to spread knowledge on personal finance to my students so they wouldn’t have to go through the same experience. In adjusting my curriculum to effectively meet the real world needs of my students, I decided to expand my reach to teach more people about financial literacy, thus providing an avenue for financial freedom and generational wealth.