Olena Belyaninova
- Liza Jean Miezejeski decided to attend college in Europe to avoid student debt.
- After completing college in Prague, Miezejeski moved to Brussels to pursue a master's degree.
- Now, the 25-year-old has no plans to return to the US, where she fears she will go through "culture shock."
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Liza Jean Miezejeski, a content creator and founder of Skola, a startup to help students navigate moving to Europe to attend university. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In high school, when it was time to start planning for the future, all I felt was fear — the fear of graduating from college with debt.