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Help me avoid being withdrawn

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Hello!! This is extremely embarrassing for me (I really hate asking for help) but I've looked at my other options and it feels like I have no other choice. If you can help, then that's amazing and I really appreciate it with all of my heart- if not, thank you for reading anyway. I'm a college freshman majoring in Biochemistry at Florida International University (Go Panthers!!). I'd been dreaming about this moment for years. Unfortunately, my awesome college experience has been tainted by this constant dark, looming cloud: money. My mom doesn't make much. However, due to a family situation affecting my FAFSA and residency status, FIU has refused to process my application. It's been a constant battle with the financial aid office ever since. My mother had $3,000 saved up for my books and expenses (fully thinking I would get some form of aid), but that's how much the 6 week Summer semester cost, so all of her money went towards that. The trouble after the Summer term was figuring out how we'd get me through the Fall semester- it was way too late to apply to a local community college by the time the summer semester was over (and even before that, too), and we didn't have the money to buy our way out of the housing contract. I'm already applying to other colleges as a last resort for the Spring term. At this point, my options continue to dwindle. I don't know what to do.

Without financial aid, I can't afford to pay the $7,000 this semester FIU is asking for. The next option was to ask for a private student loan. My mom and I agreed that we'd take out $4,600 to pay the housing for the term and the rest she'd pay out of pocket with the $600/month payment plan FIU offers. It turns out FIU has the wrong SSN on file for me, and it doesn't match the SSN on my loan, so the disbursement isn't going to process in time for the first payment. They alerted me of this on the 27th, and the payment is due the 28th. I never had the intention of putting my mom through this difficult situation in which she has to choose allowing me to pursue my dream of medical school over buying food and doing things for herself. She has to take care of my grandma, who has dementia, as well as pay for bills, fix our cars and, unfortunately, help me pay for my textbooks and access codes. I decided to make this GoFundMe to alleviate the costs for her, so it can allow her to have some money for herself. My mother has been working for as long as I can remember trying to raise my brother and I. She's always ingrained in me the importance of education and hard work. I even suggested to her that I could just take a year off in order to figure everything out- she was the one who told me no, and that she wants to see me go to college no matter what, because she knows it's what I want. "Everything will fix itself, you never know" is what she'd always say to me.

This GoFundMe was started as a last-resort option to see how much I can raise in order to get the initial payment out of the way so I don't get withdrawn from my classes or incur any late fees (which I DON'T HAVE THE MONEY FOR). If you choose to help me, thank you so much. You have no idea how much it's appreciated. I'm still trying to work things out with the financial aid office to see what can be done- until then, I'm out of options. I've tried applying to jobs in the area and on campus with no luck. I don't know how fast GoFundMe deposits funds, so I'm going to include my cash app here just in case: $JeannetteFonseca. Even if you won't do it for for me, do it for my mom. Her story is very similar to most immigrants, and it's a story that inspires me: to come to the US and sacrifice everything to give their children a better life. I appreciate my mother for everything she's done, but she deserves a little break now.

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Donations 

  • Marco Cunha
    • $25 
    • 6 yrs
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Organizer

Jeannette Fonseca
Organizer
Miami, FL

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