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Hello Everyone!
My name is Liz Williams. I recently received an opportunity of a lifetime to study in Périgueux France at the Franco-American Vocal Academy. I was offered a 1000.00 Euro scholarship to offset tuition costs.
Unfortunately, despite the generous scholarship, I cannot afford the rest of the fees involved to go. Since this opportunity was such a surprise I had no way to plan for it financially. I was given this opportunity Friday, June 5, 2015 and the program starts July 3rd. I applied for FAVA a while ago but never sent them any recorded material.
I typically do not get selected for roles or make it into the finals at competitions. I have been working very hard the past four years to better myself by practicing diligently on my vocal technique and it has finally paid off. On Friday June 5th, I downloaded my Junior recital to YouTube to share with friends and family. I decided to go ahead and send FAVA the unlisted link. I thought to myself “I know I won’t get anything, but it is important to try. Maybe they will think of me in the future.” Within two hours of sending them the link I received this email.
When reading the first few lines of the email I remember thinking “Well it was nice of them to reply, even though the role is filled.” But then I continued reading and to my surprise they had a position open for me and wanted me to come. I was at work when I was reading this, it took all of my power to not jump out of my seat and do a victory dance. I was told after corresponding to the email I had two days to make a final decision. I almost said no when I realized how much money it was going to cost. I decided to take out a loan to pay for the expenses. Little did I know it is very difficult to take out a student loan during the summer.
Since FAVA is not a university, they do not show up as an option for student loans. I tried to accept a loan from ENMU but was informed I would have to take six credit hours in order to take out the 4500 loan. The two classes would cost me a little over 1200 dollars, I realized this wasn’t going to be enough. So I tried to take out a private student loan through Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo, and US Bank but the interest rates where either variable and had no cap or where very high. I resorted to take a loan with Wells Fargo for about 7% interest for 5,000. Then I discovered even to take out a private loan I had to be enrolled for 3 credit hours and they could only approve me for 3,000 dollars. I can’t take out both loans because all student loans are disbursed through the university. The School then approves your loan for a certain amount based on estimated cost of living plus all of the fees involved with taking the classes. The university can only approve you for the estimated cost of living plus tuition.
I am very concerned about taking two summer classes while being in an opera program for the summer. I am not sure whether if I will have reliable internet while I am there, and I’m sure most of my time will be devoted to rehearsals. I am working two jobs currently, but will have to quit one of them due to this opportunity. The only way I can make this happen is through your generosity. Please help me make this dream come true! Even if you can only give 1$, everything helps.
Feel free to verify my story through this website favaopera.org . You will find me listed in the singers section for France Summer 2015, along with my picture!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Williams
My name is Liz Williams. I recently received an opportunity of a lifetime to study in Périgueux France at the Franco-American Vocal Academy. I was offered a 1000.00 Euro scholarship to offset tuition costs.
Unfortunately, despite the generous scholarship, I cannot afford the rest of the fees involved to go. Since this opportunity was such a surprise I had no way to plan for it financially. I was given this opportunity Friday, June 5, 2015 and the program starts July 3rd. I applied for FAVA a while ago but never sent them any recorded material.
I typically do not get selected for roles or make it into the finals at competitions. I have been working very hard the past four years to better myself by practicing diligently on my vocal technique and it has finally paid off. On Friday June 5th, I downloaded my Junior recital to YouTube to share with friends and family. I decided to go ahead and send FAVA the unlisted link. I thought to myself “I know I won’t get anything, but it is important to try. Maybe they will think of me in the future.” Within two hours of sending them the link I received this email.
When reading the first few lines of the email I remember thinking “Well it was nice of them to reply, even though the role is filled.” But then I continued reading and to my surprise they had a position open for me and wanted me to come. I was at work when I was reading this, it took all of my power to not jump out of my seat and do a victory dance. I was told after corresponding to the email I had two days to make a final decision. I almost said no when I realized how much money it was going to cost. I decided to take out a loan to pay for the expenses. Little did I know it is very difficult to take out a student loan during the summer.
Since FAVA is not a university, they do not show up as an option for student loans. I tried to accept a loan from ENMU but was informed I would have to take six credit hours in order to take out the 4500 loan. The two classes would cost me a little over 1200 dollars, I realized this wasn’t going to be enough. So I tried to take out a private student loan through Sallie Mae, Wells Fargo, and US Bank but the interest rates where either variable and had no cap or where very high. I resorted to take a loan with Wells Fargo for about 7% interest for 5,000. Then I discovered even to take out a private loan I had to be enrolled for 3 credit hours and they could only approve me for 3,000 dollars. I can’t take out both loans because all student loans are disbursed through the university. The School then approves your loan for a certain amount based on estimated cost of living plus all of the fees involved with taking the classes. The university can only approve you for the estimated cost of living plus tuition.
I am very concerned about taking two summer classes while being in an opera program for the summer. I am not sure whether if I will have reliable internet while I am there, and I’m sure most of my time will be devoted to rehearsals. I am working two jobs currently, but will have to quit one of them due to this opportunity. The only way I can make this happen is through your generosity. Please help me make this dream come true! Even if you can only give 1$, everything helps.
Feel free to verify my story through this website favaopera.org . You will find me listed in the singers section for France Summer 2015, along with my picture!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Williams