When I was in college, my appendix burst. I was uninsured, in the hospital for a week. My bill was WILD. I talked to a finance person at the hospital who said, "The only option is writing an essay to try to convince the hospital to wipe out your debt."

It is surreal to think that the only reason I was able to continue going to school and not be homeless was because I wrote a really great essay, and some people at a hospital took mercy on me. Like, I can't even believe that actually happened.

I don't know why that popped into my head, but I remember it being a "write or die" situation and being so grateful I majored in writing. Talk about a persuasive fucking essay, man.

Lol this is gonna derail my day now unpacking this. Cuz I was way too young at the time to understand that's not how things usually work. You don't get to be like "please sir am poor" and they wave a magic wand over your $35k bill. Wtf would I have done if it was a bad essay???

And the only reason they said I could try the essay is cuz I was a college student. I'd just started up school again that semester after dropping out. I'd be so fucked if I hadn't gone back.

Anyway, I still got an extra bill for $5k from the surgeon that couldn't be magically erased. But I was able to pay that off, eventually, picking up extra shifts at TGI Friday's.