Dear Reader,

Thank you for visiting my fundraising page. I would really appreciate if you could read about my story and case. I also wrote a section on my research interests and proposed research project, in case you’d like to have a look.

My name is Biagio Rosso. I come from Burano, a small fishermen’s village near Venice, in Northern Italy. I am a working class student, and was the first person in my family lucky enough to be able to attend high school and then university, my father working as a waiter and my mother working seasonal jobs. My life has been changed radically by education. Currently, I am a student of Politics and Philosophy at King’s College London, and a prospective academic and researcher in the field of Comparative Politics and Political Economics.

As many of my first generation students peers, financial problems have often made it difficult to carry on with my education. In addition, I have been a victim of bullying in my state school years, and suffered of major depression. Yet, my parents’ and my own sacrifices and resilience, and  my donors’ investment in my academic excellence and potential have allowed me to progress through the stages of secondary and tertiary education — up to being now recognised by several of my professors as a blooming scholar in my field, and finally receiving an offer for a place at the University of Oxford last week.

In 2016, while attending an Italian state school, I was selected by the UWC Italian National Committee as the recipient of a full 50,000 scholarship to study for the IB diploma at the United World Colleges. Thus, at the age of 16, I relocated to Freiburg, in Germany, to take advantage of such a great opportunity to learn. Two years later, after excelling in my academic studies, I secured a place at King’s College London, one of the leading universities in the world.

Since being admitted as an undergraduate to the Liberal Arts programme at King’s College London in 2018, I dedicated myself entirely to advanced learning and research in the fields of Political Economics, Comparative Politics, and Political Theory. If you’re willing, you can read about my research interests and projects at the end of this section. At King’aCollege London (which testifies to the power of education to change lives), I have been immersed in an incredible community of dedicated students, researchers, and scholars. Channeling all my energies into my studies and aim to become an academic in my chosen fields, I have so far excelled in all my subjects. I was awarded the prize for the top performance in my cohort in 2018/2019, published two articles in peer reviewed UG journals, and hold the top performance in several modules in Politics and Political Economy. 

Earlier this year, one of my professors at King’s College approached me inviting me to submit a postgraduate studies application to the Master of Philosophy in Comparative Government at the University of Oxford, starting in October 2021.

In his words, the essays I wrote for the course were the most impressive ones he’d seen a UG student produce, and never had he met a UG student at King’s capable of drafting a research proposal and commanding a theoretical framework as those I had settled on to submit to Oxford for my postgraduate application. Similar remarks were made about my UG dissertation work. Thus, I prepared all the relevant materials and submitted my application.

After eight weeks since my application, I received an offer to study the MPhil in Comparative Government at the University of Oxford.

The letter described my application as commendable. I couldn’t hold up my tears when reading the admission letter. My dream programme and university had just accepted me on one of the most selective, rigorous, and prestigious programme in my field. I do not think I had a happier day in my life. A bit like the Bundesliga orSerie A of Political Science/Economy. The programme combines cutting edge teaching and research in the substantial fields of Comparative Government and Political Economy, and rigorous methodological training for prospective researchers in the fields. It is, simply put, the best out there for my subjects, and I was deemed deserving of one of the only fourteen place on it purely based on my proven academic merit and brightness.

Reading that letter, and knowing I had one of those fourteen places, rewarded all my family’ and my own sacrifices throughout these years.It was the coronation of a twenty long journey started in a fishermen’s island, and the beginning of a much longer one — my journey to meaningfully contribute to vital fields as are Politics and Political Economy.

The only hurdle left between me and attending such unique programme is finances.

The two years course costs around 38,000 £.

Many of my peers come from well-off and little vulnerable socioeconomic backgrounds. But in my own case, my family’s and my own lifetime savings cover only a portion of it. Further, the economic downturn brought about by the Covid crisis in unskilled labour and service jobs, hitting hard on my family’s and my own employment and savings in the past year, made it unspeakably difficult to meet the costs of the course.

These socioeconomic asymmetries and difficulties could mean I do not have the possibility to enrol in one of the best programmes in the world for which I have though been deemed academically commendable and worthy of a place. 

I applied for several scholarships, and I am waiting to hear back. Many of them are incredibly competitive, with only a handful of bursaries available for those admitted. Others simply exclude me based on non-academic eligibility conditions. Finally, funding opportunities in Italy, and especially with a non-public sector and working class background, are virtually nil for promising students with proven academic potential as me.

These are the reasons why any contribution, whether small or big, whether donating or sharing, would potentially make the difference, and encounter my eternal gratitude ❤️

In this open letter I told you a story about the power of education. Nothing has been a more central force in my life. I began my hopeful journey in a fisherman’s village in a working class family, and now find myself admitted to the best programme in my field, in the best university in the world, and with the potential to make longstanding and meaningful contributions to my field. Today, your donation would mean contributing not only to my case, but to the force of education to change lives for the better as well.

Thank you for reading this letter,

Biagio

In case this works, I pledge to also acknowledge anyone donating 1000£+ in the dedications opening my MPhil dissertation, and send them a bound copy of the dissertation with a personalised message.

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RESEARCH INTERESTS AND PROJECT at OXFORD:

As promised, here are my research interests and my proposed research project at Oxford that your donation could help realise: