One bad loan experience can leave a stigma.

Hello, everyone.

Welcome to my blog and another wonderful edition of the Hive Learner's featured post. Many people make taking a loan look like a very bad thing to do. I have seen things turn around for people, and it is all as a result of the loan they took. I have also seen the life of an individual crash as a result of a loan, but people make it look like only bad results are associated with taking loans, and whoever takes a loan must suffer the same fate as people before them. Taking a loan can either bring positive or negative changes to one's life; in most cases, it all depends on how and what we spend the loan money on.

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Some individuals take loans to start up a business; others invest the money they take; they grow the money while they try to meet the stipulated time frame to repay their loan. The way people make taking loans look very bad make people keep it a secret that they ever took loan or are actually repaying the loan they took, some people will make you feel like it is over for you the moment you mention you plan to take a loan. People always discourage you from taking a loan. The moment you share your plans about taking a loan, only a few people will encourage you to go ahead. 99% of the people you share that plan with are definitely going to discourage you from pulling through.

In 2020 and 2021, when I first started my cryptocurrency journey, I almost lost my mind. I was new to the cryptocurrency space, and I expected that in a few months I'd achieve all my dreams through cryptocurrency, but I was wrong. There was no one to really guide me, so all I had was myself and the little knowledge I had from articles and posts i read online. The way people talk about cryptocurrency changing their lives in a twinkle of an eye made me believe cryptocurrency was a get rich-quick scheme, and that pushed me into making a very terrible mistake.

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I rushed to use my school fee to invest in cryptocurrency. I purchased a lot of memecoins, the likes of Safemoon, Safemars, Freecoin, feg, and so many others. Little did I know there was something called DYOR (Do your own research). All I needed was for friends to post about any meme coin on their WhatsApp status, and I rushed to invest in it, and I was paying heavily for the gas fee. All I had in mind was that before the deadline for me to pay my school fee, I would have gotten a return on my investment, but I was wrong.

The deadline for me to pay my school fee was drawing closer, and these memecoins continued to dip, and the money in my wallet was not even up to half of the money I invested, like my money had disappeared into thin air. If anything happens and it escalates to my parents hearing, they'd be disappointed in me, so I had to look for a way to get myself out of the tight corner I have put myself in. I made calls, and friends were able to help me out with the little they could spare, and I still needed about 10,000 naira ($8.10) before the money I needed would be complete.

Friends have done their best; I did not know what to do or where to run. I decided to take a loan from two apps as one would not accept to give a new user the amount I was after. I succeeded in paying my school fee before the deadline, but the time frame to pay back my loan elapsed, and as usual, these apps won't give you a break. They keep calling and sending you threatening messages; they threatened to start calling my contacts, but I was wondering how they'd do that. I was shocked when my mom asked me if I knew of any loans with Carbon. I took these loans without any plans in place about how to pay them. She helped me out, but till date I have not told her my reason for taking the loan.

The one lesson I learned was never to take a loan when you don't have a plan on how to pay it back; it will bring you shame and disgrace.