Study Abroad in Japan

Hello, my name is Brooke and I am trying to raise money to help fund my study abroad trip to Japan. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to travel the world; so it would only make sense for me to choose international business as my major. When I first started thinking about going to college, I was not really thinking about what kind of financial impact it would make on my life. In 2010, my mother lost her job, which was just one year before I was scheduled to go off to college. This really put a strain on my family. After two years, most of our savings had run out and my mother still couldn't find a job that paid even near as much as her previous job. My father was already working two jobs so my mother decided to pick up a part time job. Finally, after almost 3 years of barely making it by, my mother found a full time job similar to the one she had before, but with a highly decreased salary. So now, my father works two jobs, my mother works two jobs, and I work two jobs (along with going to school) just to make sure we don't accumulate any more debt. During the last 3 years of my family struggling on a highly limited budget, I have been racking up the student loans. One can only image what four semesters at a university in America costs, but now I feel the need to exit my comfort zone. I need to leave the country and study a new culture. I need to experience a completely new world and expand my mind. Traveling is my passion and I would love nothing more than to study abroad in Japan this upcoming spring semester. Unfortunately, with my family's financial struggles, it will be difficult for me to go abroad. Just one semester as an international student in Japan costs as much as two semesters of out of state tuition at my university, Texas Tech. That one semester will cost around $30,000 and my financial aid will only cover about half of it. I have created this page to tell you my story and to let you into a little piece of the life that I live and have lived in my recent past. I hope that you can find it in your heart to help. Every donation will help, no matter how small.