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THE SHORT STORY:
I need to raise $3900 to supplement my savings for one class ($4,000) and one month of housing ($1600) in order to officially graduate from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and achieve my dream of becoming a Fulbright scholar/North Korea expert, but I can't do it without your help.
WHO AM I?
My name is Sarah Mack, and I am currently a senior in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. I am majoring in Regional and Comparative Studies with a concentration in International Security, Gender, and Human Rights in Northeast Asia and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. Some of you may know me on campus or online as "that North Korea girl", and for good reason - I intend to become a North Korea expert, and I am already well on my way.
WHAT DO I DO?
TL;DR: I am a major North Korea nerd and have worked my butt off 24/7 working multiple part-time jobs and studying three foreign languages to become an expert over the past four years. My family is not rich (I have had to help support them through my work-study jobs) and cannot help me by financing the final class I need to graduate.
Like many other Hoyas, I have kept busy during my time at GU. In the past four years I...
However, my time at Georgetown has not been easy. I am a first-generation student from a rural Virginia town with just over 1,000 residents, and my family is far from wealthy. This past semester, I held down four part-time jobs while taking 19 credits (for an estimated 57 hours of academic lectures and homework per week, plus 30+ hours of paid work) and writing a thesis. Despite academic and financial hardship, I still managed to finish the semester with a 3.78 GPA for the semester, as well as a cumulative 3.93 GPA for my major.
My family is currently low-income and is not in a financial position to help me right now. In fact, I have had to help them by sending them money out of my work study paycheck for the past year to help pay for rent, electricity, lunch money, and other necessities. Despite this, the electricity in our home has been turned off multiple times in the last several months and my family could face eviction from their residence within the next few weeks. This would not be the first time members of my family have found themselves homeless within the last year. They cannot help me, which is why I have chosen to take this route.
WHY DO I NEED TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW? WHY NOT LATER?
TL;DR: Despite applying for summer financial aid and reduced-price housing through my job as early as possible and following up multiple times, I found out recently that I will not be receiving the summer assistance I believed I was going to get throughout the semester.
I planned my Fulbright and my finances around this assistance. I cannot defer Fulbright, I cannot afford to stay at Georgetown another semester, and I cannot begin my Fulbright or my career without this class. So finishing now is my only option.
I was led to believe that I would live in reduced price housing for the summer ($400 instead of $1,600) because I will be working full-time on campus over the summer for a program that subsidizes housing. I worked for the same organization last summer 25 hours per week and received the discount. This year, I signed up to do 46 hours a week, and I never received any indication that this year would be any different from last year --- until my graduation day.
On that day, I contacted the office, and they informed me that I would not be receiving the housing discount because I was a "late hire", despite the fact that I would be working over full time, we had been in correspondence for several months and that I was being hired in place of an employee who would have received the discount. Right now, I am living on friends' floors and couches, but as of July I will have nowhere to live. I was so desperate that until today I seriously contemplated sleeping in the library or in a classroom or on a bench if that is what it was going to take to get my degree. Hopefully, I will not have to turn to those options again.
Additionally, I was (begrudgingly) prepared to take out an unsubsidized loan for $4,000 to cover my tuition for my summer coursework, but today while discussing my housing situation with financial aid, I found out that the loan would continue to accrue interest and require payments while I am in China, despite the fact that my salary on Fulbright will be commensurate to a resident of the province where I will live, or about $6,000 to $9,000 dollars per year. In other words, the loan for one class would cost me my entire first year's salary. Obviously, I cannot afford this.
Basically, if I don't secure housing and take this class, I can't graduate. If I can't graduate, I have to turn down the Fulbright. And then I will have to return to campus for an entire semester just for one class, this time with no job waiting for me at the end. Because I expected to graduate in August, I did not fill out a FASFA for next year, which means that I will not get all of the aid that I need, especially since I would be part-time. So finishing up now is my only realistic option.
COST BREAKDOWN:
I am taking two required courses (GOVT 040 - Comparative Political Systems & PHIL 108 - Data Ethics) over the summer. These are my last two courses needed for my degree. I have a 50% scholarship completely covering one of the courses, but I still need about $4,000 for the other course (GU tuition information here ). On-campus housing costs $1,600 for the time that I would be in class (June 6 - July 6).
So, $4,000 for tuition + $1,600 for housing = $5,600 total.
WHAT I AM ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE:
I have about $1700 saved from my jobs throughout the semester. I am willing to put all of this into my tuition and housing to get my degree.
WHAT I NEED:
$5,600 total cost - $1,700 contribution by me = $3,900 total.
I have to make the full payment to Georgetown by June 6, 2018 - 12 days from the writing of this post.
HOW WILL I PAY YOUR DONATION FORWARD?
And then there is more intangible, long-term stuff:
While studying in China on a Fulbright Scholarship next year, I will be doing quantitative sociolinguistic research at Yanbian University in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture as part of my mission to become an expert on North Korea and its relationship with the United States, China, and South Korea (see my project proposal here for more detailed information). Afterward, I will work for the U.S. government as a North Korea/China/South Korea regional expert to fulfill my Boren Scholarship service requirement .
As recent events in the news prove, the United States government desperately needs North Korea experts in its ranks to address the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons on regional and global security. I will be equipped (and required as per the Boren service requirement ) to contribute to solving this crisis once and for all after I receive my degree and complete my Fulbright year. But in order to do that, I need to get my degree.
I am so close to reaching my goal (97% according to my Georgetown Diagnostics Report!), earning my degree, and achieving my dreams. Every penny counts!
Any contribution at all, even it's $5 (although I certainly welcome larger donations!), would be greatly appreciated and will bring me one step closer to the future I have worked so hard for.
Additionally, if anyone can help me in some other way, like by loaning me books, sending me SmarTrip cards they won't be using because they moved away from DC, letting me stay with them off-campus in or near DC for a reduced rate (I insist on paying you what I can!), or some other form of support please reach out to me via Facebook.
**Even if you can't donate, please share this page with 5 or more fellow Georgetown alums, North Korea geeks, Fulbright scholars, or just generally kind/generous people in your contact list!**
Thank you so much.
I need to raise $3900 to supplement my savings for one class ($4,000) and one month of housing ($1600) in order to officially graduate from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and achieve my dream of becoming a Fulbright scholar/North Korea expert, but I can't do it without your help.
WHO AM I?
My name is Sarah Mack, and I am currently a senior in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. I am majoring in Regional and Comparative Studies with a concentration in International Security, Gender, and Human Rights in Northeast Asia and a minor in Mandarin Chinese. Some of you may know me on campus or online as "that North Korea girl", and for good reason - I intend to become a North Korea expert, and I am already well on my way.
WHAT DO I DO?
TL;DR: I am a major North Korea nerd and have worked my butt off 24/7 working multiple part-time jobs and studying three foreign languages to become an expert over the past four years. My family is not rich (I have had to help support them through my work-study jobs) and cannot help me by financing the final class I need to graduate.
Like many other Hoyas, I have kept busy during my time at GU. In the past four years I...
However, my time at Georgetown has not been easy. I am a first-generation student from a rural Virginia town with just over 1,000 residents, and my family is far from wealthy. This past semester, I held down four part-time jobs while taking 19 credits (for an estimated 57 hours of academic lectures and homework per week, plus 30+ hours of paid work) and writing a thesis. Despite academic and financial hardship, I still managed to finish the semester with a 3.78 GPA for the semester, as well as a cumulative 3.93 GPA for my major.
My family is currently low-income and is not in a financial position to help me right now. In fact, I have had to help them by sending them money out of my work study paycheck for the past year to help pay for rent, electricity, lunch money, and other necessities. Despite this, the electricity in our home has been turned off multiple times in the last several months and my family could face eviction from their residence within the next few weeks. This would not be the first time members of my family have found themselves homeless within the last year. They cannot help me, which is why I have chosen to take this route.
WHY DO I NEED TO DO THIS RIGHT NOW? WHY NOT LATER?
TL;DR: Despite applying for summer financial aid and reduced-price housing through my job as early as possible and following up multiple times, I found out recently that I will not be receiving the summer assistance I believed I was going to get throughout the semester.
I planned my Fulbright and my finances around this assistance. I cannot defer Fulbright, I cannot afford to stay at Georgetown another semester, and I cannot begin my Fulbright or my career without this class. So finishing now is my only option.
I was led to believe that I would live in reduced price housing for the summer ($400 instead of $1,600) because I will be working full-time on campus over the summer for a program that subsidizes housing. I worked for the same organization last summer 25 hours per week and received the discount. This year, I signed up to do 46 hours a week, and I never received any indication that this year would be any different from last year --- until my graduation day.
On that day, I contacted the office, and they informed me that I would not be receiving the housing discount because I was a "late hire", despite the fact that I would be working over full time, we had been in correspondence for several months and that I was being hired in place of an employee who would have received the discount. Right now, I am living on friends' floors and couches, but as of July I will have nowhere to live. I was so desperate that until today I seriously contemplated sleeping in the library or in a classroom or on a bench if that is what it was going to take to get my degree. Hopefully, I will not have to turn to those options again.
Additionally, I was (begrudgingly) prepared to take out an unsubsidized loan for $4,000 to cover my tuition for my summer coursework, but today while discussing my housing situation with financial aid, I found out that the loan would continue to accrue interest and require payments while I am in China, despite the fact that my salary on Fulbright will be commensurate to a resident of the province where I will live, or about $6,000 to $9,000 dollars per year. In other words, the loan for one class would cost me my entire first year's salary. Obviously, I cannot afford this.
Basically, if I don't secure housing and take this class, I can't graduate. If I can't graduate, I have to turn down the Fulbright. And then I will have to return to campus for an entire semester just for one class, this time with no job waiting for me at the end. Because I expected to graduate in August, I did not fill out a FASFA for next year, which means that I will not get all of the aid that I need, especially since I would be part-time. So finishing up now is my only realistic option.
COST BREAKDOWN:
I am taking two required courses (GOVT 040 - Comparative Political Systems & PHIL 108 - Data Ethics) over the summer. These are my last two courses needed for my degree. I have a 50% scholarship completely covering one of the courses, but I still need about $4,000 for the other course (GU tuition information here ). On-campus housing costs $1,600 for the time that I would be in class (June 6 - July 6).
So, $4,000 for tuition + $1,600 for housing = $5,600 total.
WHAT I AM ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE:
I have about $1700 saved from my jobs throughout the semester. I am willing to put all of this into my tuition and housing to get my degree.
WHAT I NEED:
$5,600 total cost - $1,700 contribution by me = $3,900 total.
I have to make the full payment to Georgetown by June 6, 2018 - 12 days from the writing of this post.
HOW WILL I PAY YOUR DONATION FORWARD?
And then there is more intangible, long-term stuff:
While studying in China on a Fulbright Scholarship next year, I will be doing quantitative sociolinguistic research at Yanbian University in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture as part of my mission to become an expert on North Korea and its relationship with the United States, China, and South Korea (see my project proposal here for more detailed information). Afterward, I will work for the U.S. government as a North Korea/China/South Korea regional expert to fulfill my Boren Scholarship service requirement .
As recent events in the news prove, the United States government desperately needs North Korea experts in its ranks to address the threat of North Korean nuclear weapons on regional and global security. I will be equipped (and required as per the Boren service requirement ) to contribute to solving this crisis once and for all after I receive my degree and complete my Fulbright year. But in order to do that, I need to get my degree.
I am so close to reaching my goal (97% according to my Georgetown Diagnostics Report!), earning my degree, and achieving my dreams. Every penny counts!
Any contribution at all, even it's $5 (although I certainly welcome larger donations!), would be greatly appreciated and will bring me one step closer to the future I have worked so hard for.
Additionally, if anyone can help me in some other way, like by loaning me books, sending me SmarTrip cards they won't be using because they moved away from DC, letting me stay with them off-campus in or near DC for a reduced rate (I insist on paying you what I can!), or some other form of support please reach out to me via Facebook.
**Even if you can't donate, please share this page with 5 or more fellow Georgetown alums, North Korea geeks, Fulbright scholars, or just generally kind/generous people in your contact list!**
Thank you so much.