In news stories about the student debt crisis, we hear about American young adults delaying the typical milestones of adulthood due to their student loans. They (well, we) postpone marriage, childbearing, and purchasing first homes. But what if you’re interested in a holier, more altruistic path? Men and women who want to join Catholic religious life must be debt-free before they even think about making their vows, and that’s a challenge for people who don’t realize their calling until after they’ve taken on student debt in the mid-five figures.

NBC recently highlighted the story of a 32-year-old aspiring sister who knew what she wanted to do with her life, and attended a private Catholic college. She ended up with $60,000 in student loans, which had to be paid back before she could begin the process of joining the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth. She delayed her dream by ten years, accumulating more consumer debt while unemployed, and has now finally paid it all back.

“I thought I’d be a sister by almost 30 — not almost 40,” she told NBC’s Life Inc. “If I had to do it all over again, I would have been smarter to have saved a lot more money.”

Student-loan debt delays dream of becoming nun [Life Inc.]

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