The latest Debt.com scholarship winner is a real cheapskate. So we're giving her $500.

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Dvorkin on Debt, Scholarship Winner

Zoe Parajon loves her sisters, but she doesn’t want to be like them.

“I refuse to graduate college with debt,” the 18-year-old high school senior says. “I have seen both of my sisters do it, and I don’t want to be that miserable after college for however many years it takes to pay off thousands of dollars.”

So Zoe has a plan. In fact, she’s had it for years.

“I’ve been working towards graduating debt free since the eighth grade,” she says. The straight-A student has been enrolling in as many Advanced Placement classes as she possibly can, hoping to impress scholarship judges. Perhaps she’ll also earn enough AP credits to skip some introduction courses in college — and save on the ensuing tuition.

Zoe has also applied for more than two dozen scholarships.

“I apply for the small ones and the big ones, hoping that I receive every last bit of financial aid I can get,” she wrote in her letter for the Debt.com Scholarship For Aggressive Scholarship Applicants. “I haven’t won any of the scholarships so far, but I am not giving up!”

Good thing she didn’t because her love of learning and hatred of debt has just made her Debt.com’s fourth winner.

“THANK YOU for giving me the opportunity to become closer to my goal of graduating debt-free,” Zoe told me. “My family struggles with money as we live paycheck to paycheck, and I just really do not want that to be me when I am older.”

What will she do when she’s older? Zoe has ambitious plans…

I have fallen in love with public health. There are endless possibilities, but I believe I want to be a public health administrator and oversee large companies, making sure their employees are being treated fairly and that no child labor is taking place. Another possibility is attending law school and becoming a public health lawyer — and essentially try to eliminate child labor all together.

Here’s a lifelong plan Zoe is 100-percent certain about – Living debt-free. If that also describes you, then APPLY NOW for our $500 scholarship. Want an edge? Read 5 Really Dumb Reasons Why You Didn’t Get That Scholarship.

Howard Dvorkin is a CPA and chairman of Debt.com, an educational resource for those who want to conquer all forms of debt in their lives.

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or policies of Debt.com.

About the Author

Howard Dvorkin, CPA

Howard Dvorkin, CPA

I’m a certified public accountant who has authored two books on getting out of debt, Credit Hell and Power Up, and I am one of the personal finance experts for Debt.com. I have focused my professional endeavors in the consumer finance, technology, media and real estate industries creating not only Debt.com, but also Financial Apps and Start Fresh Today, among others. My personal finance advice has been included in countless articles, and has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Forbes and Entrepreneur as well as virtually every national and local newspaper in the country. Everyone should have a reason for living that’s bigger than themselves, and besides my family, mine is this: Teaching Americans how to live happily within their means. To me, money is not the root of all evil. Poor money management is. Money cannot buy happiness, but going into debt always buys misery. That’s why I launched Debt.com. I’m glad you’re here.

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Published by Debt.com, LLC