Help Me Afford SC

My name is Naomi Lestage and I am a Spring 2020 admit. When I first came to USC a lot of people would ask me what I did my fall semester before coming to SC... did I go abroad? Did I take classes at a community college? Did I work? Well in my case, I was at a hospital every weekend getting treatment for breast cancer surgery. Yes, I had cancerous cells in my body for a year and I didn't know.  Last summer (2019), I was at the beach with a few friends. I was in the water just floating around when suddenly I couldn't breathe, I was above water and I couldn't breathe and eventually, I blacked out. I woke up with strangers surrounding me and my friends with tears streaming down their faces. My mom came and took me to the pediatrician the following day, she told me that the pain that I experienced was normal. I told her that I think something is wrong with me and she wouldn't believe me saying “young girls do this often” and “you have nothing to worry about,” in other words "Black girls exaggerate their pain, therefore, should not be believed." But the (white) girl before me who had a small cut on her leg was sent to get an MRI. Anyways we went to get an MRI (after several minutes of pressing her to), I was sitting in a room with my mom when the doctor came in looking distraught (I thought she must have had a long day) and she proceeds to tell me I have breast cancer in stage 1B with a small tumor. My first reaction was anger, I was mad at my pediatrician because if I didn't insist on getting it checked out I wouldn't have known and it could have developed more. On October 25, 2019, I had my Lumpectomy surgery and it was successful. Since my surgery, I have to take 4 medications and visit my breast surgeon every two weeks. My surgeon has really been there and making sure I could attend SC in the spring with no problems. January 9, 2020, arrives and I'm finally a USC student, visiting campus and living in the dorms. It was such an amazing experience to be at the campus I can call home for the next 4 years. TRIGGER WARNING: EMOTIONAL ABUSE COVID comes and cuts my SC experience short and I'm sent back home in March. Being at USC (although it was short) made me really understand my seuxality and I eventually came out to my closest friends as bisexual which they were really supportive and accepting of. When I tried to tell my parents, I was essentially told "if I want to be a f*ggot then it won't be under my roof." I have tried to apply to some LGBTQ+ scholarships but they are for Fall 2021-Spring 2022. I would really love to stay a trojan but the school financial aid hasn’t been very kind towards first-gen students since USC raised tuition. I was intending to move back to campus this fall but my gift aid has been cut and I CANNOT stay home with this toxicity. I DO NOT plan on staying home and getting CONVERSION THERAPY AT ALL. My parents know what I've already gone through with my medical condition but for them to do this during a PANDEMIC and for being MYSELF is unfair.  I'm currently a rising Sophomore studying Game Design with minors in Architecture and Entrepreneurship. My goal is to start my own gaming studio as there has yet to be a Black Female owned studio to this day. If you'd like to check out my work, my Instagram is @lestage.visuals where I do makeup and cosplay. I generally consider myself an artist and being at home really blocks my creative flow because of the financial and abusive crisis I am in. My time on campus may have been brief but please do not let Spring 2020 be my last time on campus. Venmo: lestage_visuals Cashapp: NaomiArt1