Pre-College Program Help

Hello, I'm Alex. I'm 17 years old with a vision and a dream.   I am presently a junior at  HSPVA, High School of Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. I dream of making fine arts my professional career.  I've wanted to be an artist ever since I was a little kid in Kindergarten.  Luckily, I've been forturnate enough to have a mom who has exposed me to various art museums, exhibits, and cultural events throughout my life. She always strives to pay for any or all opportunities that come my way. My mom is a single parent who has raised me since I was 18 months old on an elementary school teacher's salary.  Unfortunately,  after 20 years as an educator, her salary is still right at $50K  a year on her income tax return.  Hence, we are limited in finances to support potential summer programs which are costly.  Therefore, I can only dream of attending such a wonderful, yet costly summer program.

Most summer programs are between $5000 to $7000 for a 4 week program.  This does not include air fare or pocket money.  I have a job on weekends for minimum wage. I have managed to save $1500, but it is still not enough to pay for any of these programs.  Therefore, we heard about this website and hope that I can benefit by raising enough money and have my dream come true.  I wish to attend a pre-college summer program in fine arts this summer 2015.

Being able to attend one of these programs would not only be beneficial to my future as an artist, but would allow me the ability to earn college credit to any ECP  Institute. This means, I will have credit already completed for any college/institution on that list. Also, the experience of attending college classes, meeting new people, and facing new challenges will  better prepare me for my education after high school.  Attending one of these programs, can also be beneficial with future scholarships toward the payment of post high school education. 

Art Pre-College Summer program dates and tuition prices vary. There are also application, housing and meal plan fees that vary in price depending on the program.

The programs I'm interested in, and trying out for are (Airfare not included):
•School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 4 week session-
-Non-Refundable Deposit=$100
-Tuition=$5,524, 4 college credits
-Housing=$1,385-1,415
-Meal Plan=$300
Total=$7,339

Please consider helping support my dream this summer. Every little bit helps. :-) Thanks again for taking the time to read this and thank you for your support!

Alex