Courtesy of Janika Cook
- Janika Cook spent eight years going to college off and on before dropping out with $25,000 in loans.
- She started a paid apprenticeship program in tech, which provided practical skills and experience.
- Cook now works as a data analyst, earning $67,000 annually, and is paying off her student loans.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Janika Cook, a 28-year-old data analyst in Cleveland. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I graduated from high school in 2014 and felt like my only option was to go to college, so I enrolled at Ohio University as a political science major.