Transgender Woman to study at Oxford Uni

UPDATE:
* I am currently trying to make just the tuition fee for one year of £14,015 as demandeed by Oxford to be paid by Aug 31st 2014.
* Soka University of America have donated £6,000
* I am currently £7,425 short!




Dear Potential Donors,

I have just been accepted to study for a Master of Philosophy Politics: Political Theory at the University of Oxford starting in October 2014, a two-year course.

Unfortunately, I do not have the funds to attend and want to make my dream of becoming a graduate of Oxford a reality. Education is not a right, but providing someone with the opportunity of an education is truly the greatest and most empowering gift one could ever give.

 I am a 28 year old mixed race, Black/Turkish/White, transgendered woman, born and raised in London, UK. I have just graduated with a BA Liberal Arts: International Studies & Chinese Language, from Soka University of America, California, top of my class with a GPA 4.0, the maximum GPA possible within the U.S grading system (41 As and A+s'.) I am fluent in English,Turkish, Azerbaijani and Chinese Mandarin (read, speak, write), as well as basic French. I have also undertaken a one-semester study abroad at China's most prestigious institution, Peking University

At Soka University of America I have been the consecutive recipient of three major annual scholarships: $10k, $40k and $5k respectively. I have had my tuition fully funded as a part of an SOS scheme to provide low-income students access to education. I thus moved from London to Southern California in 2010 upon receiving this wonderful offer of a place at a humanistic institution that seeks to "foster a steady stream of global citizens leading a contributing life."  In 2013, my term paper was accepted to the Marxist Sociology section panel, "Marxist Analysis of Intersectionalities, Margins and Challenges to the Status Quo: Class, Gender, Identity, Race and Sexualities" at the American Sociological Association (ASA,) the first ever undergraduate to be honored with a place on the panel.

Without further funding I simply cannot continue my education.

I have encountered numerous challenges as a transgendered woman of colour and have worked tirelessly to get to this point.  I began "˜transitioning' so to speak (hormones,)  at the age of 18 and have come to a point where I embrace and my body and my identity.  I have experienced wide range systematic racism, classicism and gender prejudice. I was raised in a low-income household to two wonderful parents, who are fully accepting of my transition. I also have a beautiful, smart and hardworking, younger brother. I am the first in my family to obtain a higher education at this level.  

In terms of my inspiration for my application to Oxford, the London Riots from 2011 proved a lack of organization and political ideology amongst youth in Britain today. I reject the claims that these individuals simply sought disorder. Indeed, many were engaged in misguided criminal activities. However, the marginalization of the rioting youth, the treatment of black youths by the police during those riots and the level of desperation that exists amongst youths, resulted from the structural denial of access to capital and exclusions from political representation.

Excluded from political representation, many youth are continuing to grow in anger and frustration. This anger must be channeled into productive social activity by offering youth the ability to voice their views within this system from which they feel so alienated. Only then, will the UK be truly democratic and can we achieve true representation of the masses. Therefore, my current interests lie with those rejected as vital to the construction of British social fabric, as I work to create change and work with them in the process of political participation. My goal is to engage in interdisciplinary projects pertaining to the right to life, fair distribution of resources, education, and equal protection by and from the law, projects that will contribute to the betterment of British society at large. I am therefore concerned with young women from ethnic minority backgrounds and young black males, both of whom experience systematic denial and exclusion.

My aim is to become a Member of Parliament in the UK and work hard within the British political system as part of a new era of political activists and representatives, a new generation of politically active youth. We desperately need new, aspiring, young scholars and activists who are working to formulate a new vision of the future and uphold a new ideal of what society could become. In order to do this, we must rethink the notion of democracy, society, community, gender and gender categorization, as well as how we engage with political theory.

For many of my family and friends, studying at the University of Oxford was an unattainable dream that was befitting only for those of the upper classes. I want to crush that myth and be the embodiment that the University of Oxford is accessible to all genders, races and classes, with a sole focus on hard work, academic ability and determination; a fair, welcoming and equal society where anyone of any background can establish themselves as a scholar.  Given the intersections between Oxford's multi-disciplinary mission and my range of interests, I have no doubt that the University of Oxford would be the perfect place for me to develop as a scholar/thinker committed to political theory and the overall improvement of British society.

Please empower me by donating today and help me to become one of maybe a handful of transgender Oxford graduates and the first ever prominent transgender British political activist and politician.

With love, appreciation, gratitude and thanks.


Zuleyka Shahin
 


[ My professor, Dr Ryan Caldwell and I at the ASA 2013, New York: "Marxist Analysis of Intersectionalities, Margins and Challenges to the Status Quo: Class, Gender, Identity, Race and Sexualities"]

*I am tirelessly and continuously sending out grant applications. If I am lucky enough to recieve any further financial aid, I will reduce my overall total required and post an update of what I have recieved.

The total requested covers my full tuition for two years, college fees, room & board, as outlined by Oxford University.
Tuition and College Fees per year - £28,030
Room & Board- £31, 962
TOTAL: £59,992.00