When students leave my classroom, I want them to know that they have my support. As a first-generation college student, my only options were loans. I knew going to college was a scary choice because my family would not be able to relate to me. However, my passion for teaching pushed me to take a leap of faith. I am now a senior English education major at the University of Delaware and a student teacher at Thomas McKean high school. I push my students to challenge themselves the way I challenged myself. I like being a role model for my students of what hard work brings. I want to make a positive, long-lasting impact on my students. I want to pursue a Master's degree and become trained for special education. However, I worry about my ability to pay back my loans. As a teacher, my non-taxed yearly salary could not pay off my loans. This makes my job particularly troublesome because teachers often have to fund their classrooms. Even while student teaching, I have already spent my own money to make my students' school day more enriching. The lack of funding inhibits my ability to follow the pedagogical approaches I have learned. I know I cannot fix school funding issues on my own, but I want my students to have a classroom where they feel safe. My students deserve a space that was created to benefit their learning, but I cannot provide them that if I have trouble paying back my loans. As I've marked the end of my college journey, I am anxious about my career choice. I am not anxious because of being unhappy; I am anxious because of the current teacher shortage and burn-out rate. I love teaching, and I truly feel like being an English teacher is my calling. However, the current teacher shortage in my field and the ongoing pandemic have completely changed schooling. I have been subbing at my student teaching placement without payment because there is a substitute shortage. Teachers are being pulled out of their planning period to cover other classes, and they have had to take on larger class sizes. Even after getting through a rough day with my seniors, I come home and worry about my loans. As an incoming teacher, I feel the weight of the world. Every day I do my best to help my students be successful, but I constantly question myself. I have made it to the end of my degree, yet I still feel unsure if I made the right financial choices. I do not want to choose between paying off my loans or following my passion. My students deserve a teacher that cares about them in a world that does not.