Tag: Akron Westfield High School

Krystal Gabel planned to have a doctorate by the time she was 25, so she focused on education. “I really pushed myself. She graduated magna cum laude from Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa, with a writing degree, the last writing degree the school offered. But her $80,000 student debt and an evolving life philosophy changed her goals. After college and after surviving the recession on a series of low-paying jobs, Gabel bought a house in Omaha, landed a job as a technical writer with a decent salary and began paying off her student debt. She got involved in the Omaha community gardens, where people grow free food for the community and where she began questioning the role of government in our lives. Growing food is revolutionary, she said. In Omaha residents need a permit to sell food or even give it to other people. Gabel believes she is part of a generation of people, many saddled with student debt, who are looking at things differently. Gabel said she is part of the micro living movement, for people who don’t really want or need more than 200 square feet of living space.