From Council House to Harvard: Help A Student Get There

My name is Junaid, and I've been offered a place on a prestigious summer programme with Harvard University - but without financial support, I won't be able to secure my place.

I'm a 19-year-old student from the UK who has just finished their A-Level exams, living in a council house with my parents. Neither of my parents finished secondary school. My dad is our only source of income, but with rising living costs and growing debt, he simply can't afford to support this opportunity. My mum lives with a long-term illness and finds it difficult to work.

Harvard has awarded me a $2000 scholarship to attend their HUVTSP Remote Summer Programme - a world-renowned programme for ambitious students from across the world. But the total cost is $4,250 (£3,250) and I need to raise the remaining $2,250 (roughly £1700 + Costs and fees on GoFundMe, a total of £1800) independently. They require me to make the full upfront payment for the programme by May 7th or else my position in the programme will be taken away from me.

Over the past 9 months, I've applied to hundreds of jobs and attended countless interviews, but like many young people right now, I've struggled to find work. Despite the setbacks, I've kept pushing.

My dream is to build a community to support people from low-income backgrounds to gain access to opportunities they otherwise would not have access to. Using my knowledge and strong passion for both business and technology, I want to build a platform where anyone can gain access to opportunities no matter their background or education level. The Harvard programme will support me to do exactly that. It's my way of repaying the people and community around me who have supported me for so long with my education and career aspirations.

This isn't just about attending a Summer programme with Harvard - it's about building a future my family has never had access to. A chance to break the cycle of poverty, to gain an education at the highest level, and to one day give back to the people who've sacrificed everything to support me.

If you believe in the power of education and giving people a fair chance, please consider donating or sharing my story. Every pound brings me closer to making this dream a reality. Thank you for reading, and for believing in my journey.

Please share and repost this on social media so more people can see my story and help me fulfill my dream. Thank you.