Hi, my name is Aurora. I am 28 years old and I extremely proud to be beginning the second year of my Ph.D. in clinical psychology- despite the curveballs that I have been thrown the past few months. In November of 2023, I was diagnosed with Follicular Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and in March I began immunotherapy treatment.

This is my second cancer. In 2017, after graduating from the University of Iowa with my BFA, I found out I had thyroid cancer, which is now in remission.

While I have found a marginal amount of assistance from the Lymphoma and Leukemia society for a few of my medical bills, unfortunately, the grant does not cover diagnostic or imaging bills (which are my most expensive ones). As you might imagine, I make very little on my PhD stipend. I will not make extra money for a few years as clinical Ph.D.s take a fairly long time (my estimated graduation year, assuming I complete everything on time as I am on track to do is 2029). Despite efforts to stretch my monthly stipend, there is not enough to save after barely covering my living expenses each month, my credit card balances are slowly climbing, and to top it off my car has been in desperate need of a new catalytic converter for a few months now (this costs roughly $2000). A car is quite nearly a necessity in rural Maine, especially since I will be starting a practicum placement 50 minutes away in the fall. I really oscillated as to whether to ask for help, I hate it, but I am hitting a point of great stress with my finances and figured even a little could go a long way as some of my outstanding bills (a few of which have been sent to debt collectors) are around $50 apiece. Of course, repairing my car would be an extreme relief as well. I truly appreciate anything, even sharing my story would be so helpful. I promise I will try to do so much good in this world with my research and clinical work, and I hope to help many people and pay any kindness forward as soon as I am in a place to do so. I do not expect the gofundme to be fully funded, I know that a lot of my friends are in similar boats to me monetarily and I really only ask that you help out if you can. Thank you so much for reading my story and I wish you so much peace and love!