HELP AYESHA GET TO GRAD SCHOOL!

Hello friends, family, and my wider community,

I am reaching out to you today because I need your help. For those of you who do not know me personally, I am Ayesha Bashir, an aspiring filmmaker and experimental animator from Karachi, Pakistan. I’m also an alum of United World Colleges (UWC-USA’18) & Bennington College'22.

I am delighted to share that I have been accepted into New York University (NYU) to pursue a master's in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) This Master of Arts program is a two-year, interdisciplinary that trains future professionals to manage and preserve collections of film, video, digital, and multimedia works.

Growing up in a financially struggling working-class family in Karachi, my father, the only breadwinner had the financial responsibility for three other children. As a result, I attended a public school in Pakistan until I applied to United World Colleges and was accepted. Without the invaluable support of institutional scholarships, such as those offered by United World Colleges and the funding provided by Bennington College, I wouldn’t have been where I am today. These scholarships shaped my academic journey significantly as they covered full tuition based on merit, thus being one of the main reasons my parents agreed to study abroad.

My academic journey continued at Bennington College, where I was awarded a generous grant by Davis United World College Scholars and later the Museum Fellowship (MFT) by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in partnership with the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation. Coming from a working-class and being a first-generation college student, obtaining a master's degree holds immense significance for me, as it marks a progressive achievement - as I will be the first woman in my family to do so.

I have received a merit-based scholarship and an internship award from NYU Tisch. However, the funding is only renewable for the second year as long as I am enrolled full-time and maintaining satisfactory academic progress. Even with the scholarship & internship award, the cost of tuition, books, equipment, and living expenses still seems like a significant barrier. Pursuing higher education in the arts, especially in cities like New York, comes with considerable financial challenges. I made this GoFundMe so that I feel assured I have done everything I can to feel supported. I plan to apply/move forward as a graduate assistant to cover my personal & additional expenses while living in New York City.

My desire for a master's in the MIAP program stems from my interdisciplinary & hands-on educational background, and specifically since NYU Tisch MIAP synthesizes theory and practice while emphasizing independent studies & on-site work at external institutions. With the acquisition of this educational experience, I aim to augment my archival research by conducting fieldwork in Pakistan. This endeavor will position me as a forerunner, enabling me to establish a distinguished presence as a researcher, filmmaker, and Tisch alum. With remembrance being at the core of my work, I plan on bringing Pakistani film archives back on the map.

If you have a full-time job with extra income, have access to generational wealth, have a kind heart, or if you care about me, brown women's futures, or believe in the right to an abundant, debt-free life, I invite you to donate. Any contribution, regardless of size, will be sincerely appreciated and welcomed!

If you have a Pakistani Bank account, you can choose to send your contribution directly to my Pakistani account. If this is the case, or if you have any queries, please feel free to reach out via Email / Instagram/ LinkedIn

I thank you all in advance for your support!

Some Of My Work:

Tehreem Tauqir is a dear friend of mine who is fundraising on my behalf in the US.