Help Gizzi Kolako Pay for College

I remember one day in my childhood in Liberia when I was outside playing with my friends.  As we were playing, I saw a rebel soldier walking by holding an AK47.  At the time, I did not know what it was, but I knew it could harm people.  Later on, I heard the gunshots.  I felt scared and heard my mom yelling, telling everyone to come inside the house and hide somewhere safe.  Scared and confused, I quickly hid under my bed.  
We endured the war that was going on in Liberia.....

After the war was over, my uncle Gizzie  (who lived in the United States) and my mother decided that it would be best for me to come to the United States to go to school and have better opportunities in life than I had back in Liberia.  My experience of moving from Liberia to the United States has made me adaptable and persistent.  

One day in Liberia, I came home from school and my mother told me that I would be moving to the United States the following week to live with a cousin I did not know!  When I first heard their plans, I was sad and happy at the same time.   Sad because I would be leaving my family, especially my mother, who had been there for me my whole life and sacrificed her life to save mine....and happy because I would be going to a new place to start a new beginning and experience new things.  I didn't have time to process their decision and I had to adjust quickly.   Things that were most surprising and required adjustment for me included the variable weather, ways of worship, types of food, and approach to school.  

I arrived in the United States from Liberia when I was around 10 years old.  I arrived without being able to speak English.  It was hard for me to learn the difficult language at first, but I was determined and persistent and worked my way through it.   I remember my first year attending school in the United States when I was in the 5th grade.  The only words I knew were a simple "hello" and "goodbye".   I experienced those days when other students would laugh at me because of my broken English.  Those were definitely my toughest days.  My grammar and pronunciation of every word I said made sense in a way, but it was somewhat hard to understand because of my thick African language based accent.  

I worked very hard in school and now speak English well because I pushed myself to do a lot of things to improve. My English as a second language (ESL) classes, reading books, staying after school for tutoring, going to after school tutoring at the Emily K Center in Durham, all helped me to improve.  It was challenging because as I started to learn English, I also tried to learn a new word in Loma, my first language, because growing up I had only learned the basics in Loma!  I did not want to lose the first language that was taught because it helps me remember the good parts about Liberia.  My experience moving to the United States has taught me the value of adaptability and persistence, which I believe will help me be successful in the next chapter of my life - college!

I graduated from Northern High School in Durham in June 2016.  After applying (and being accepted) to several colleges,  I was fortunate enough to be offered a President's Scholarship at Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.  I was so excited when I received the letter informing me of this honor and I was very grateful for this outstanding opportunity to make my dream of college within reach.  However, I was worried when I realized that even with the scholarship, I would need $5,000 per semester that the scholarship didn't provide.  I talked with my parents, who are still in Liberia, and they are not able to help me financially at this time.  I went to seek help and one of my teachers suggested that I tell my story and try to raise the additional money needed so I could take advantage of the opportunity to attend Guilford College.  

I am very thankful to everyone who has worked with me and helped me over the years to reach this point in my life!  Thank you!  I will be starting school in August, God willing, at Guilford College - if I can raise the needed funds.  I will be ever grateful for any assistance you can give in making the dream of a college education a reality for me.