Send Muhammad to Harvard SSP - 2016

Please help me get to Harvard! I was recently accepted to the Harvard Summer Program but I need your help to cover part of the $12,500  in required tuition, air and additional expenses for the program. I currently received $6,300 in scholarship from Harvard, and the amount that I need to come up with is $6,200.  My family cannot afford to pay this amount.

I am quite private about things in my personal life because I am humble, but my life has been changed for the better.  I recently have been accepted to Harvard University Summer School Program.  Yes Harvard!  A seven week program where I live on the campus and take two 4 credit college courses, while earning a Harvard transcript.

Currently, I am a 10th grader and first-generation college bound student who's attending Gompers Preparatory Academy in San Diego, CA.

Growing up in poverty, the only place a person like me would go would be on the streets or to jail.  No one would ever think a kid/skateboarder raised in southeast San Diego, surrounded by 52 documented gangs, would even think about college or school, even attend it, let alone Harvard.  The only path would be the path to violence and gangs.  Well I just changed that, and so is my school.

I admit life has been a struggle. I grew up always getting in trouble, even to the point in middle school where at one point I was about to be expelled from my school.  I was given a second chance.  I became a high school student(at the same school) and I am on the path to success.  

I believe you define your own success and no one else does.  I am a successful student, currently being the top of the sophomore class.  I am the first student at Gompers Preparatory Academy to get accepted to an Ivy League school and the first ever in 10th grade to be accepted to such a prestigious academic summer school program.  I have a burning desire for education and I hope to inspire others with this passion.

I am extremely thankful and honored to represent Gompers Preparatory Academy and the San Diego Community at Harvard.

Any donations will be appreciated.  I'm also trying to cover the cost of travel and other cost that might arise when I am there.  I need all funds by May 15, 2016. Thank you in advance to everyone who can help me make this opportunity come true!  

Sincerely,

Muhammad Elarbi
10th grade student
Gompers Preparatory Academy

Photography Work
http://flickr.com/MuhammadElarbi

Letter of Acceptance Harvard SSP
https://instagram.com/p/BBd1lsirOM

Article written about me on our school website
Gompers Preparatory Academy