I spent over a decade immersed in higher education — ten years of rigorous academic pursuit, buoyed by fellowships, scholarships, and honors, but also burdened by substantial government-backed loans. I repaid them all. It took decades. It cost me opportunities in my chosen field. Yet I did so in good faith, believing that the investment in knowledge would someday ripple outward. Today, as conversations reignite about the reinstatement of student loan repayment, I find myself less interested in whether or not others “deserve” forgiveness and more compelled by a different question: how might we evolve our educational values toward equity, while honoring the sacrifices of those who carried the burden before?