an unexpected pleasant surprise

We checked the mail today and I had two letters, both from UHEAA, the Utah Higher Education Assistance Authority. This is where I took out a loan for my study abroad program in my last year in school.

Usually I don't give much thought to these letters and sometimes even fail to open them because I take care of everything through my online account. But I was chatting with some people in the kitchen so I opened the letters during the conversation. The first one was the standard tax return document they send out this time of year. Boring :)

But the next letter read as follows:

Dear Karianne Salisbury:

We are pleased to inform you that the remaining balance of your student loan listed in the table below has been forgiven as a way of thanking you for taking care of your loan obligation in a diligent manner. Within 2 to 3 weeks UHEAA will send a document indicating the paid in full status of the loan.

--

Uh, HOW AWESOME IS THAT! I absolutely hate the concept of being in debt so I started making payments pretty much as soon as I returned from my trip and was working again. These past few months I've just been paying chunk payments of whatever I didn't absolutely need that month. I had about $500 left and was planning on making the last payment next month. But now...well now, I don't have to.

Yay!