Hi, I’m Tara! Anyone who knows me is well aware that I’ve always been a hard worker. I’ve had two jobs since high school, and volunteered at nearly every museum that would have me when I wasn’t working my jobs or going to school. Today, I work full time as a substitute teacher and part-time in retail. I had two other jobs alongside those over the summer to save as much as I possibly could. I do odd jobs for friends and family where I can. I also volunteer for the Center for Women and Families. At the same time, I’ve tried to use every ounce of free time I find to nurture my passion for history.

When I was accepted into my Public History MA, I was elated. The financial journey ahead was and has been arduous, but the exciting possibility of studying what I love has always been a driving factor that keeps me pushing forward. My dad always encouraged me to pursue what I loved. He wanted me to find a career that I was enthusiastic about rather than a job I had to show up for. When he passed away, history opened doors for me to figures who’d experienced the same loss that I had. For the first time in my life, I saw history’s value in its relatability rather than dates and times and names I could never remember all that well.

I kept my hard work going through all of my university experience. I started applying for jobs as soon as I landed in the U.K. I worked for English Heritage in my second year at university, and for the Tower of London in my last year. When I went home for summer or Christmas breaks, I worked at a coffee shop and doing odd jobs to make enough to continue to live when I got back to university.

The driving factor in my hopes to finish this degree and settle in the U.K. is my wish to make history accessible to wider audiences, while concurrently highlighting my roots. My family is from eastern Kentucky in Appalachia, and I grew up in Louisville, Kentucky.

When I studied abroad for my undergraduate degree, (funded by loans) most of my friends didn’t know anything about Kentucky aside from horses and fried chicken. I have a deep love for my family’s history and Kentucky as a whole that I’d like to put in the spotlight abroad when given the chance. I wrote my second year mini dissertation on the Civil War in Kentucky, and how it was represented in museums in the state in the modern day. I’ve also done lectures abroad on Appalachian culture and history.

I’ve applied for every scholarship I’m eligible for through my university, and unfortunately was not selected for any of them. I have not touched the money I’ve earned from my work teaching aside from paying for my monthly loans payments. Unfortunately, as they are towards $80,000 in private student loan debt, I am struggling to save very much. If you see any value in what I’ve done and hope to do, I hope you’ll consider donating. All of the donations will go towards tuition fees, a graduate visa after finishing my degree, my living expenses at university, and securing an apartment to settle after graduation. Even $1 helps me get closer to my goal.