Grad School Fund for Ash Devine in the Helping Professions

As of July 2024 I have entered the Counselor Education master’s program at Virginia Tech. The program is holistic and multidisciplinary, and students receive training to become listened clinical mental health counselors. My primary interest is still working with vulnerable older adults, hospice settings, caregivers, people encountering end of life issues, and other disadvantaged individuals whose lives are impacted by disabilities, chronic illness, or social discrimination. In this accredited program, we are trained to be prepared to work in multiple contexts related to; youth and public schools, substance addictions recovery, older-adults and gerontology, cultural competency, expressive arts therapies, and more!

I'm seeking financial support to help me get through grad school. Cost of living is on the rise, funding is hard to come by, and student loans are more volatile than ever. School is way too expensive for the helping professions. In fact, my interest rate on my most recent loan just went up to 9%, and they just paused income based repayment plan and public service loan forgiveness. Funding will not only decrease my stress load, it will take the pressure off of me having to hold down multiple part time gigs and jobs in addition to full time school work. Simply put, financial support will generally improve my quality of life and help me to get the most out of school.

Virginia Tech estimates a cost of $42,000 per year to attend graduate school including, tuition ($875 a credit hour) and fees, cost of living, and basic expenses, and this year they approved a 3% increase to tuition. I'm doing everything I can to apply for funding from a variety of sources, but nothing is for certain, so I'm seeing if I can raise a little bit here to help me along the way without spending all of my hard earned savings.

You may also prefer to support me with a small monthly donation by joining my patreon page, and there I post interesting blogs and media about my research, my work in assisted living settings, and other music related things. I'm on patreon at www.patreon.com/ashdevinemusic

Thanks for reading and thanks for your friendship and support!

www.ashdevine.net