"I worked part time over the summer to pay for school and living expenses. Why do you need a loan?" Luckily my mother (a baby boomer, not a Boomer) wasn't that stupid.

I did work to pay for college, but I was lucky enough to have a job that said, "work whatever hours you want as long as you hit 40," with most of the time being after hours so I could do homework. And it was in the field I was getting my degree in.