Help Blessing complete her undergraduate studies

Dear Family and Friends:

My Story

My name is Blessing Ngara. I am an international student from Zimbabwe. I am in my second year at Iowa State University, Iowa. I am a Computer Science major on the premed track. I created this GoFundMe Page to raise funds to continue my studies. The company that had been funding my education was negatively affected by COVID, and they are currently making huge losses; they can no longer support me financially. As a result, I have already accumulated $40 000 in debt owing to Iowa State University. The university had already given me a grace period of one semester( Spring 2023) to clear off the balance, but since I was not able to raise that amount, they made the final decision that this would be my last semester, and I would have to drop out of college. As an international student, I will be forced to move out of the United States since I will not be in good standing with the school and the immigration department.

I have already contacted the financial aid office, but the scholarships available for international students are limited since most of their funds are through federal grants. I also tried getting a loan but was not eligible as I needed a co-signer, and due to my status as an F-1 visa student, I am not eligible for most loan options. I am also trying to transfer to other universities which had offered me partial scholarships, but the main challenge is that they will not enroll me since I do not have my official college transcript. Unfortunately, my current university cannot release my official transcript unless I pay off what I already owe them. Graduating college and impacting the world has always been my dream, but I am afraid that will not be possible as I will have to drop out of college due to a shortage of funds.

My father died when my mother was three months pregnant with me. My home country, Zimbabwe, is experiencing tremendous economic recession and inflation, so my mother cannot help fund my education. Hopefully, with your help, I will be the first person in my family to get a college degree. Last year, I was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst, and most of my student wages have been going toward my treatment.

Academics and Achievements

I have excelled academically, consistently making the Dean's List every semester with a GPA of 3.75 last semester. Furthermore, I have gained valuable experience in software engineering through participating in hackathons, including winning first place in the Clayton Farms 2022 hackathon. I am also greatly involved in entrepreneurship and, in November 2022, the runner-up in the Food Bank of Iowa food insecurity challenge. As an undergraduate research assistant in the Bioinformatics Department, I am already working 20 hours per week, the maximum number of hours a student on an F-1 Visa can work. Last month, I presented my research at the Maize Genetics Meeting in St Louis, Missouri, where I was one of the MaGNET award recipients. This semester I also developed a prototype of a laptop light that makes virtual meetings more professional and well-lit, and I emerged as one of the finalists at the Young Entrepreneurship Convention. I attained 13 straight A's in my ZIMSEC Ordinary Level examinations and 2 HEXCO Distinctions. For my Cambridge Advanced Level examinations, I attained 3 straight A's in Math, Physics, and Chemistry.

Future Plans

I have already completed a year of medical school at the University of Zimbabwe. After obtaining my degree in Computer Science in the US, I plan to return to Zimbabwe. The pain of never setting my eyes on my father or him holding me has been a wailing monstrosity that haunts me every day. My father was a victim of pneumonia, and because the diagnosis came late, all further treatments were in vain. For a long time, I was angry with the doctors and the medical institutions in Zimbabwe, but then I realized I could make a change, and other children and loved ones would not have to go through the same pain I did. Being an undergraduate research assistant in the bioinformatics department, I have seen firsthand the tremendous impact; Computer Science has on medical research. For example, computer scientists can use graph theory to analyze medical data, which will help them better understand human genome sequencing and create new diagnostics technology. I saw a vending machine for the first time when I came to the US, so it is obvious that my country does not have modern technology and technology experts to improve the health sector. Because we do not have modern medical technology in Zimbabwe, most cancer patients, pneumonia patients, or other chronic condition patients are referred to hospitals outside Zimbabwe, which most families in Zimbabwe cannot afford; so as a result, there are thousands of deaths every year due to lack of treatment. I plan to develop algorithms to help eradicate these mishaps; patients will not need to go to other countries to seek treatment. This will not only be cheap but will also reduce the mortality rate. Apart from contributing to the health sector, I plan to expand Be A Blessing non-profit making organization by using my tutoring experience from the past years to start a school where I teach underprivileged young people how to code. There are a lot of talented young women in Zimbabwe who lack resources and empowerment but would otherwise come up with great inventions that will enhance Zimbabwe for the best.

I am kindly asking for your support with any amount you can give. I hope to raise $40 000 so that I can enroll in classes next semester. Also, if you know of any people, organizations, or programs that can assist me, I would appreciate it if you let me know.

Thank you, and God bless you abundantly. No amount is too little. Your donation could be the light of hope I desperately need. Please help me complete my degree!

Blessing Ngara

[email redacted]