Help Rahimah complete her degree
Hi, I’m Rahimah :)
At the start of this year, I was extremely excited to be entering the final year of my Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Bath, but as it stands, my dream is in jeopardy. At the time of writing, I have £22,700 worth of outstanding fees on top of the £1000 needed to renew my visa (before the 1st of November), to allow me to stay in the country and complete this final year of study. The pandemic has had a deep financial impact on my family, including their ability to fund my studies. It has been very difficult grappling with this reality because it has been my dream since I was young to get a degree.
When I was a young kid, I was always curious about how the world around me worked. My education, particularly in the sciences, enabled me to look at my environment in a different light. I decided to do Chemical Engineering because I saw it as a means to creatively apply the knowledge I had gained from studying the sciences in a way that might make people’s lives easier. Chemical Engineering is also a very broad degree which gives me lots of different ways to make the world an easier place for everyone to live in.
I have been working a part-time job, but getting paid £8/hr but while also balancing my studies and only working a few times a week doesn’t net me enough to afford my rent.
In anticipation of the additional financial burden my final academic year would’ve added if I had gone straight into it, I opted to take a placement year for my 3rd year since it was significantly cheaper (£6000) and for the experience . I was fortunate enough to secure an internship with a micro filtration company in Guildford where I was a Research and Development Intern. There, I conducted research on an antimicrobial coating, studying it’s properties including efficacy and shelf life. Working in industry last year was such an eye opening experience. Since it was a growing company, I got a ton of technical experience across several departments, including marketing.
Most of £1300 I earned per month while working this internship went towards living expenses, and the remaining that I saved went towards paying for the placement year of my degree (3rd year). Unfortunately things weren’t quite that simple - between being forced to relocate within Guildford and the company being unable to pay a portion of my wage, I relied once again on my family to bridge the gap.
I hope that with my degree, I can contribute to life changing projects, such as improving water waste treatment in lesser developed countries or contributing to sustainable manufacturing that considers the environment in the long term. I also aspire to consult on chemical engineering projects and expand my knowledge in the field.
Friends and family have been the reason I have gotten this far and I am extremely grateful for what they have done for me - no amount is too small, anything can go a long way .
Thank You,
Rahimah
Update: Some people have asked me for my PayPal, so i’ll drop the link here
Thank you all so much, the support has been overwhelming
