Hey all, GoFundMe asked me to “tell my story”.

Most of you probably know me and part of who I am.

I’m eighteen in a few months, and a first generation college student from New York. I’m the eldest child to an immigrant single mom, the only surviving twin of a premature twin pregnancy, and an older sibling to a disabled little brother.

I use all these descriptors and labels not to invoke pity, but to explain the backing as to how I got here. Asking for help is hard and embarrassing in a culture where it’s often discouraged— yet here I am.

This is not a temporary struggle, I grew up very poor for over a decade, in a basement studio apartment with my mom and little brother. This ongoing financial struggle prevented us from setting up savings for college, and my mom only managed to move the three of us to a one-bedroom around two years ago.

I hope to get a degree in history and politics, and I have been working extremely hard in and out of the classroom to secure a good path to achieve this goal.

For the past few years I’ve been working at any opportunity I can to work, save, and earn scholarships for college. I worked so hard that I’ve received offers from city, state, out of state, and international universities to study there.

The cost to safely be housed and enrolled, attending any university is way out of reach for me. I am ineligible to take out a private loan, and my federal financial aid only reaches a ~$4,460 grant and $5,000 in year one loans (with half of it unsubsidized).

Any amount of money donated will go towards my collegiate education, so I’m asking for just a couple thousand right now to begin closing the $12,000+ gap.

My goal is to attend Clark University (Worcester, Massachusetts) and get a BA in History and in Community, Youth, & Education Studies (possibly minoring in political science). My financial aid package from Clark and nearly all other schools leaves me with roughly $17,000 out of pocket.

After exhausting all ends of aid, city and state schools appear to cost $13,000–15,000 out of pocket as well, due to my need for on-campus housing.

I was told by a teacher today to “create the world I wish to live in”. So I will– building community, encouraging open communication, and likely entering the field of education myself.

I could use any help I can get. If you can’t donate, share the link and tell friends, family, community.

And thank you for reading!