Hampton U. Summer Bridge Program
Donation protected
Hey EVERYONE !! :)
My name is Maria Arriaza, I am new to this gofundme but here it goes... :)
I have been provisionally accepted to my dream school, Hampton University in Virginia, that basically means my academic records indicated a slight deficiency, with respect to the standards of admissions. Throughout my life college wasn't in the picture, first off I was born in Guatemala and immigrated to the United States in 2004 being labeled as an illegal alien my whole life. Due to my lack of understanding of how American systems worked I did not realize that in order to acquire a college degree one needs to be a U.S. resident or citizen. Many immigrants come in search for a better future, but do not understand the requirements to succeed. That only explains half of my story, I have been to four school through my high school years adapting to a different environment while trying to find myself throughout my teen stages. To say the least it was tough moving around so much. At some point I wanted to give up on trying, it took a toll on me. I let years pass with “just getting by”. My senior year is the toughest, while all my peers are applying for college and scholarships I was in the back of the classroom with the mentality that theres was no hope for me to attend college, I was wrong. There is always a plan we are not aware of that will come out of nowhere and surprise you. It surprised me. Two years ago my father submitted an application to clear my status, after a very long wait , one day in september we received a letter that I had an appointment with the United States embassy in Guatemala everything seemed surreal. I had to take a break from school to make this trip setting me behind in my studies, but I had no choice. Returning back to the U.S. with my permanent resident status opened doors for me, but first I had to catch up in my seven classes which wasn't easy since I missed about four weeks of school. My family has struggled to make ends meet, college being out of the picture the funds have never been there. I have managed to pull my grades up to a decent 2.96 GPA and this provisional acceptance means everything, I am doing everything I can to round up the money but it has been made difficult when my mom depends on me to buy groceries or pay the phone bills, I am more than happy to help out my mom. But I want more for myself I do not want to live paycheck to paycheck and admitting to this Summer Bridge program as a requirement to start my fall semester in Hampton is my start to building my career and get ahead like I have always wanted to.
My name is Maria Arriaza, I am new to this gofundme but here it goes... :)
I have been provisionally accepted to my dream school, Hampton University in Virginia, that basically means my academic records indicated a slight deficiency, with respect to the standards of admissions. Throughout my life college wasn't in the picture, first off I was born in Guatemala and immigrated to the United States in 2004 being labeled as an illegal alien my whole life. Due to my lack of understanding of how American systems worked I did not realize that in order to acquire a college degree one needs to be a U.S. resident or citizen. Many immigrants come in search for a better future, but do not understand the requirements to succeed. That only explains half of my story, I have been to four school through my high school years adapting to a different environment while trying to find myself throughout my teen stages. To say the least it was tough moving around so much. At some point I wanted to give up on trying, it took a toll on me. I let years pass with “just getting by”. My senior year is the toughest, while all my peers are applying for college and scholarships I was in the back of the classroom with the mentality that theres was no hope for me to attend college, I was wrong. There is always a plan we are not aware of that will come out of nowhere and surprise you. It surprised me. Two years ago my father submitted an application to clear my status, after a very long wait , one day in september we received a letter that I had an appointment with the United States embassy in Guatemala everything seemed surreal. I had to take a break from school to make this trip setting me behind in my studies, but I had no choice. Returning back to the U.S. with my permanent resident status opened doors for me, but first I had to catch up in my seven classes which wasn't easy since I missed about four weeks of school. My family has struggled to make ends meet, college being out of the picture the funds have never been there. I have managed to pull my grades up to a decent 2.96 GPA and this provisional acceptance means everything, I am doing everything I can to round up the money but it has been made difficult when my mom depends on me to buy groceries or pay the phone bills, I am more than happy to help out my mom. But I want more for myself I do not want to live paycheck to paycheck and admitting to this Summer Bridge program as a requirement to start my fall semester in Hampton is my start to building my career and get ahead like I have always wanted to.
Organizer
Maria Polanco
Organizer
Silver Spring, MD
