Help me make my Cambridge dream come true!
TLDR:
Hi all, my name is Amber Roos. I’m 21 years old, Surinamese-Dutch and would love your help making a childhood dream of mine come true: studying at the University of Cambridge. I have gotten an offer to study an MPhil in Sociology at the University of Cambridge (St Edmund’s College) and have managed to secure quite some funds, but it is still not enough due to both Brexit and my personal financial situation. This is why I decided to start this GoFundMe, to find out more you can read my full story below. Please consider donating or sharing this campaign if you can, thank you so much in advance!
Why do I need your help?
As a child, I always dreamed of studying abroad in England. A place not too far away from home but with Hogwarts-like-buildings. The road to this dream was more difficult than I expected. After my dad passed away from cancer, my mum did the best she can to support me. But my twin and I were going to university at the exact same time, and doing an entire degree abroad is very expensive. So when I finally went to university for my bachelor’s degree, I decided to do my degree in the Netherlands. The Dutch government supported me throughout this journey, and I was also a awarded a full scholarship to cover my tuition fees by my university.
Nonetheless, my dream to study in England persisted and I eventually decided to apply to the University of Cambridge after one of my academic mentors pushed me to just try and see what happens. Much to my surprise, I managed to get in! This was an amazing accomplishment, but I didn’t really have time to celebrate because one big gloomy cloud hung over this news: how would I ever be able to pay for this? And so, the hunt for scholarships began.
I spent hours and hours looking for scholarships to apply to. Sadly, I barely found any. What is even worse is that this year, after Brexit, tuition fees doubled. This means I am expected to pay 29.800 pounds which is roughly 35.000 EUR in tuition fees. Unfortunately, the scholarship realm has not caught up with this fact yet.
After my long search, I managed to get three scholarships which I am incredibly grateful for:
Hendrik Muller Fonds – 4.000 EUR
Fundatie van Renswoude – 6.500 EUR
VSBfonds – 7.000 EUR
This is a total of 17.500 EUR, which is covers half my tuition fees. However, I will still need to pay for the other half of my tuition fees as well as cover my living costs. My mum is doing the best she can to support me, I am taking out the maximum amount of loans from the Dutch government, and I managed to save some money as I worked for a year after obtaining my bachelor’s degree. But to fully secure my place at the university, I will need around 3000 EUR more to cover travel, study and living costs.
Why do I want to go to Cambridge?
It is no secret that the University of Cambridge consistently ranks amongst the world’s best universities. To be able to study at such an institution would be a huge honour. As a first-generation student, when I first started university, I felt that my peers were much more comfortable and had knowledge that I magically seemed to lack. As the years passed, I too became more comfortable and confident in my abilities. This is clearly shown in my university grades over the years; in my final semester I achieved a 4.0 GPA (straight As) and even wrote a so-called Thesis of Distinction which was awarded a grade of 9 out of 10. To continue my academic journey, I would love to have the chance to experience a challenging, intensive, and exciting environment like the University of Cambridge offers.
I am aware that I am writing this from a position of privilege, but I would love for this dream to become reality and I have worked so hard in the past years to make it happen. I am very close to achieving my dream, and I fear that I will still not be able to make it or have to stop halfway through. This is why I want to ask you to please consider donating a little, every bit helps and I would be forever grateful!
