I recently shot a quick portrait shoot for USN&WR that gave me a whole new appreciation of my lack of student loan debt.  I photographed Powder Springs, Ga. resident La’Nita Johnson at Woodward Academy where she recently graduated. She and her family will be responsible for about $32K of the annual $52K total cost for Pepperdine University where she will attend in the Fall.  She secured $20,000 from the school, but was still left with the $32,000 gap, and that’s a big gap.  Last I heard she had struck out on 8 of the 10 private scholarships that she had applied for, which goes to show that good grades and high SAT scores don’t really assure you of cashing in on scholarships. 

I had the good fortune of receiving Georgia’s HOPE Scholarship which paid for my entire schooling at the University of Georgia.  Only later did I realize what a blessing that was.  The HOPE is funded by the Georgia Lottery, and although I don’t play myself – bless you people who do that paid for my higher education.

Check out LaNita’s story on the USN&WR website here.

I recently shot a quick portrait shoot for USN&WR that gave me a whole new appreciation of my lack of student loan debt.  I photographed Powder Springs, Ga. resident La’Nita Johnson at Woodward Academy where she recently graduated. She and her family will be responsible for about $32K of the annual $52K total cost ...