I was in the same boat as the author, took on more debt than I intended to. I was stupid for doing so, but I wanted to go to a smaller private school, rather than the much cheaper state school.
It was my choice. I signed the notes. I had no co-signers. I'm almost done paying them off. We've had some hiccups in our lives, but we pay our bills. I made a promise to pay that note, it will be paid. I've deferred a few times, just to get past some rough spots, but it's been worth it. The debt, and interest paid on it, has paid off in spades. Even though my wife could work to help pay off the debt earlier, we've been able to have her be a stay-at-home mom, and now she's homeschooling the kids.
So, I'll take that extra bit of burden over her working and the kids in daycare/public school.