NYU and Beyond
Donation protected
My name is Rebecca Arthur, I'm from Syracuse New York and I am curretnly a sophmore at NYU for Photography. One month before I attended my first year of NYU my mother passed away, and before this I was only given about 10,000 dollars of aid for a 70,000 dollar school. I was planning on taking out loans on top of loans soley becasue I wanted to achieve my dreams at this school.
With the family hardships that I have faced over the years mostly including money, the only way to get over my depression was to create artwork, predomiatley in photomaking. Freshman year of high school I started my first photography class and have been in love with the medium ever since. I've never felt so happy capturing moments so precious and so meaningful to me as well as other peers. A moment in time is simply there for a second and all we have is memory; but the fact that a person is able to freeze anything they want in a moment and put all of their heart and soul into it -amazes me to the point of speechlessness.
I went to high school with my sister; my brother never graduated. My sister didn't have any plans after high school and I've always felt bad for my mother about that, even though it didn't really matter to her what we wanted to do with our lives; as long as we were happy. I also knew she wanted us to get somewhere farther than the home we lived in. I told myself in 9th grade that I was going to do whatever I could to succeed in this world and put nothing but good to our name. I spent all the time I could making sure that I'd have the grades for a respectable college and defy the thoughts that people put in their minds about our family and our reputation. When senior year came around the only school I ever thought about was New York University. Many people cheered for me, but always made me feel discouraged saying, "don't be upset if you aren't accepted/don't have the money." Yes, many people are rejected from college but at this time it was the only thing I've ever wanted so badly, I knew that if I set my mind to it and kept good thoughts in my head I could get in. I spent the longest time working on my application, always asking my counselor if it was okay to submit my documents and always changing my portfolio to make sure it was up to par. It was always fine, but being the girl I am, I constantly tried to tweak it all I could. As the anticipating months passed I finally got an email from the school, once I read it I started crying... tears of joy of course, followed by a loud scream! February 14th was the day I made history in my family and in my life. Its funny because no one ever thought an Arthur could make it this far. I was accepted into Tisch School of Arts at NYU for my BFA in Photography. Even before I was accepted I would base my future life at NYU. Like, "Oh, you can visit me in New York" or "You can come stay with me in the city!" I never put anything negative in my mind when I spoke about this school, I never doubted anything because I knew that the only way I would stay sane and positive was to think positively. Ever since that day I've had to deal with even more obstacles than expected, for example money was one of them.
Throughout my life my family and I have lived off of 25,000 dollars a year coming soley from my mother. She sat me down and told me that she was going to do whatever she had to do to get me into this school. It almost got to the point where I was almost fored to apply to a different school because I couldn't afford it. But I knew how hard I worked for this and knew I couldn't just throw this opportunity away. So I made a final decision that New York University was the school for me. I was ready to commit to debt and even more harship than I had ever went through. But it all spun around when two months before I went to college my mom was admitted into the ICU and one month before move-in day my mom passed away. It was then in that moment that I became legally independent. I didn't have anyone except my siblings and grandparents who weren't in any situation to give me any money towards schooling. I spent the next week calling anyone at NYU that I could find who would be able to help me. And it worked, for the most part. I was given a scholarship which I am uterly grateful for but I still feel as though it is not enough. I still have money to pay out of pocket, along with my medications, phone bills, books, insurance and so many other things that could write a book if I listed them all. I am here now, I have above a 3.0, in my first year I was in three successful art shows and now that I am in my sophmore year I will be adding two more art shows to that list. I have faith in my mind that after I walk across that stage I will be making the best living of my life. This is my story and there is a lot more to it. I could easlily delete this page, but I keep it up so maybe someoe can notice that college should never be unobtaibable. Anything would help, even a penny, and even a quick message of faith, because that just means I'm 39,999 dollars closer to my goal and one notch brighter than the one before.
Thanks to anyone who donates and all who took the time to read and share.
With the family hardships that I have faced over the years mostly including money, the only way to get over my depression was to create artwork, predomiatley in photomaking. Freshman year of high school I started my first photography class and have been in love with the medium ever since. I've never felt so happy capturing moments so precious and so meaningful to me as well as other peers. A moment in time is simply there for a second and all we have is memory; but the fact that a person is able to freeze anything they want in a moment and put all of their heart and soul into it -amazes me to the point of speechlessness.
I went to high school with my sister; my brother never graduated. My sister didn't have any plans after high school and I've always felt bad for my mother about that, even though it didn't really matter to her what we wanted to do with our lives; as long as we were happy. I also knew she wanted us to get somewhere farther than the home we lived in. I told myself in 9th grade that I was going to do whatever I could to succeed in this world and put nothing but good to our name. I spent all the time I could making sure that I'd have the grades for a respectable college and defy the thoughts that people put in their minds about our family and our reputation. When senior year came around the only school I ever thought about was New York University. Many people cheered for me, but always made me feel discouraged saying, "don't be upset if you aren't accepted/don't have the money." Yes, many people are rejected from college but at this time it was the only thing I've ever wanted so badly, I knew that if I set my mind to it and kept good thoughts in my head I could get in. I spent the longest time working on my application, always asking my counselor if it was okay to submit my documents and always changing my portfolio to make sure it was up to par. It was always fine, but being the girl I am, I constantly tried to tweak it all I could. As the anticipating months passed I finally got an email from the school, once I read it I started crying... tears of joy of course, followed by a loud scream! February 14th was the day I made history in my family and in my life. Its funny because no one ever thought an Arthur could make it this far. I was accepted into Tisch School of Arts at NYU for my BFA in Photography. Even before I was accepted I would base my future life at NYU. Like, "Oh, you can visit me in New York" or "You can come stay with me in the city!" I never put anything negative in my mind when I spoke about this school, I never doubted anything because I knew that the only way I would stay sane and positive was to think positively. Ever since that day I've had to deal with even more obstacles than expected, for example money was one of them.
Throughout my life my family and I have lived off of 25,000 dollars a year coming soley from my mother. She sat me down and told me that she was going to do whatever she had to do to get me into this school. It almost got to the point where I was almost fored to apply to a different school because I couldn't afford it. But I knew how hard I worked for this and knew I couldn't just throw this opportunity away. So I made a final decision that New York University was the school for me. I was ready to commit to debt and even more harship than I had ever went through. But it all spun around when two months before I went to college my mom was admitted into the ICU and one month before move-in day my mom passed away. It was then in that moment that I became legally independent. I didn't have anyone except my siblings and grandparents who weren't in any situation to give me any money towards schooling. I spent the next week calling anyone at NYU that I could find who would be able to help me. And it worked, for the most part. I was given a scholarship which I am uterly grateful for but I still feel as though it is not enough. I still have money to pay out of pocket, along with my medications, phone bills, books, insurance and so many other things that could write a book if I listed them all. I am here now, I have above a 3.0, in my first year I was in three successful art shows and now that I am in my sophmore year I will be adding two more art shows to that list. I have faith in my mind that after I walk across that stage I will be making the best living of my life. This is my story and there is a lot more to it. I could easlily delete this page, but I keep it up so maybe someoe can notice that college should never be unobtaibable. Anything would help, even a penny, and even a quick message of faith, because that just means I'm 39,999 dollars closer to my goal and one notch brighter than the one before.
Thanks to anyone who donates and all who took the time to read and share.
Organizer
Rebecca Arthur
Organizer
Fayetteville, NY
