ISLP Business Study in Australia

Hello my dear friends and family, 
First of all, thank you all for taking your time and reading this.
 
As most of you know, I am 19, and I am an international student in the United States coming all the way from Lithuania. I came to the US 1.5 years ago, right after I graduated from high school, to pursue my goals and dreams here.

In Lithuania I was always involved in a lot of activities and operations. I was selected to participate and participated in foreign exchange program. That was a Nordic and Baltic countries educational cooperation fully financed by my school. 4 countries were involved : Iceland, Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania. I got an opportunity to go to Iceland and Latvia which brought me an amazing experience. I was also a member of my high school's parliament for a year and I was one of the nonprofit operation “Snowball” (“Sniego Gniuzte”) organizers for 1.5 years. Operation “Snowball” is an alcohol and other drug use prevention program which was started in 1974, Springfield, Illinois, and was brought to Lithuania in 1994. I contributed to this operation 3 times. In addition, I graduated from art and music schools, which I had been attending 4 and 7 years, respectively. I was also dancing in a hip hop dance school until I moved to the US, and achieved high positions in Lithuania with my group. I’ve always been the person trying hard, challenging myself, learning on my own and doing the best I can do.

Currently I am enrolled in the community college in order to save some money throughout these first two undergraduate years. I am a full time student pursuing my career path in Business. I'm majoring in Business Administration currently in college, and willing to get an Associates degree in it. Though, my target is double major in university which is MIS (Management Information Systems) & Economics. I've been always interested in business world since I was a kid helping my mom with her clothes store in Lithuania. I've always loved interacting with customers and dealing with numbers. I believe MIS&Economics are the ones that will help me the most in this my career journey. 
In the US I started from the intensive English courses to get used to the environment and different education system, language.

After I finished the course, I transferred to Oakton Community College to start my educational path. From the beginning I've been a full time student and graduated both semesters with 4.0 out of 4.0 GPA and willing to continue this achievement in this spring and future semesters. I became a school President's Scholar and a member of Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society (of 2-year colleges and academic programs). And I got elected to be a Vice President of this PTK society in my college, which I really appreciate and happy to hold the position. 
As I usually find myself being a perfectionist, that is not easy. Every single success in education and elsewhere is a hard work, dedication and prioritization. Instead of spending most of my free time with friends going out, I most frequently dedicate my time for school work as I am working more than a full time as well.
I recently received an amazing nomination to attend 2018 International Scholar Laureate Program Delegation On Business&Entrepreunership being held in Australia or China, that a very few students receive. I have been chosen for this honor based on my exemplary academic performance and academic excellence.
 As a member of the Delegation on Business & Entrepreneurship, I will get a chance to experience international business, finance, and marketing from differnet perspectives that a few students ever see. I will advance my interest in business and preparation for a career in a variety of entrepreneurship fields. This is a unique opportunity that I really don't want to miss...
However, its cost is $5,000 including airfare, which is too much for self sufficient and self paying for school's tuition 19 year old student in a foreign country.

P.S. This is a 10 days program, starting in Melbourne and ending in Sydney. Being held in May. ( Local flight tickets, 2 meals per day, housing, local tranpsortation and a core program are included. Flight tickets to Melbourne and Flight tickets from Sydney are not included in this cost of $3,500). Estimated flight tickets cost is around $1,500.

As you all know, education cost here in the US is not comparable to almost any other country's education cost in the world (My cost per year has been around 15 thousand US dollars, including books). And coming university's tuition is going to be double or even triple the price I am paying now, which I am strongly hoping will be reduced by scholarships, which are, unfortunately, restricted to me (because of my status). I live with my sister here who helped me in the beginning a lot financially, however, she is not able to do so any longer. Our mom recently was diagnosed with cancer.
My mom now is on a strict treatment and can't really work, thus my sister supports her 100% financially from month to month, also pays for the treatment and sends all needed medicine from the US to Lithuania. (My parents are divorced if you raise a question of why my dad is not helping. And with that being said, my dad has no interest in helping me). Since we strongly believe our mom is going to get much better soon, and fight the cancer, I hope you all, who's reading, to believe in that and pray for her health as well. 

Even living with my sister cuts a little of my expenses, including housing, I still have to pay the full tuition for my education. So in order to pay for my school I must work full time as well. I work longer than full time hours. (In summer time I was working over 80 hours per week to pay for the fall semester). Therefore, working so many hours during school semester and studying full time, especially seeking for the best results in college, and supporting mom, is very hard and stressful. And knowing that I am responsible for my education tuition in the US, I can’t waste money anywhere else, even to participate in such programs that I just have been offered. 

I chose Australia as my destination, since it has always been on my bucket list first country to visit, after I visited US for the first time. I think in business world it is crucial to understand different cultures' business ethics, to know different marketing perspectives, broaden business horizons, meet people from all over the world, visit multinational Austrialian companies and compare their practices with the American and my home country's. I strongly believe this program would assist me a lot in my professional life goals as well as would open me a large diversity of perspectives in business world by exchanging ideas with people having the same interest.

So, the reason I am doing this fundraising, is because I want to raise money to participate in this unique life opportunity which will help me in the future to continue pursuing my goals. I will also apply for the scholarship programs which are very limited and not promising. 


Keep in mind, that I am an international student which also restricts me a lot getting the scholarships in the US. 



Please, help me to get closer to my life goals, start my business career path with extraordinary opportunity, meeting potential business owners from all over with great ideas, and trying to improve market place in the world. Also, growing together with the technology and making the world a better place for finding the opportunities to reach goals for all people in different regions. I want to contribute to society as much as my full "capacity utilization" will allow me. 
This opportunity to explore business in Australia and familiarize myself with this path, will help me to get closer to my goals. 

ANY CONTRIBUTION WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR ME!!! Please be a part of my achievements in my life and help me to succeed. 

I appreciate absolutely anything you donate here. If I don't collect all the money, I plausibly cannot participate in this program. This core session takes part in 2018 MAY. 
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your understanding and contribution. 
Each of you contributing can make an impact for me, as I wish I could make a impact and difference in somebody else's life as well.

If you have any questions please let me know. 

Thank you,
Gabija