Help Carmiña to get to university!

Please allow me to introduce you to another of my remarkable students who is on the final push to realise their dream of studying in the US. She has obtained a full scholarship to study, she just needs to get there, please help if you can!

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I am Carmiña Goya, I am 19 years old and I come from a little city in the north of Argentina called Resistencia. In 2018 I applied to UWC via my national committee and got a full scholarship to study at UWC Atlantic College and that is how I left my country for the first time alone in my life.

My experience at UWC Atlantic has changed my life to the fullest. I went from living in my house with my mother and sister to living alone in another continent, with a lot of uncertainty but determination.

I really enjoy making music. I have loved singing since I was little, but my real passion is photography and theatre. I started studying photography in 2018. I believe that it has the power of telling a story in a unique way, and it has allowed me to transmit my experiences and to protest against the injustices that challenge me - being a queer woman in Latin America and the fight of the LGBTQ+ movement. Moving to study in the UK meant an amazing opportunity to start doing things for the first time, and to develop all my passions.

There, I was able to formally study what I love for the first time; visual arts. At first, this and the whole IB Diploma Program was one of the biggest challenges when leaving Argentina - the impact of speaking a foreign language 24/7 was huge, but with help, I was able to progress in range of different disciplines. The final task of this subject was to curate an exhibition. This was very exciting, I learned a lot about the arts and I want to study that in University. In my second year, I became a Platform 6 Leader - the LGBTQ+ awareness and visibility platform at Atlantic College. P6 organizes multiple school-wide events throughout the year, and I had the opportunity to meet a lot of amazing people that live different experiences as being part of the LGBTQ+ community. I take this as one of my biggest accomplishments since I know it is something I can’t do back home.

I was lucky enough to be accepted into one of my first choice universities, St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, which is one of my biggest (if not the biggest) accomplishments in my life. Luckily, I was awarded a full scholarship to study Visual Arts and Film this upcoming fall semester. This opportunity is still unbelievable to me, I will get to accomplish my own and one of my family’s wishes; to study abroad and grow as an artist. I am very excited to move to the United States in August, I know it will bring me so many other memories and lessons to learn.

The next chapter in my life is very exciting to me because I know being an artist can be very challenging, mostly in Latin America. My scholarship in St. Lawrence covers tuition, room, and insurance fees. Because of the challenges for my family and my background, I need to raise around £1550 to cover my flight ticket, my VISA application, a suitcase, a backpack, warm clothes for the winter (like snow boots that are very difficult to get in Argentina). Thanks to our small family business I was able to save around 200 USD, which is a lot considering the fact that the Argentinian currency is very cheap in comparison to US dollars, but sadly, it is not yet enough. Due to this and because I have to first pay my VISA fee in order to book a flight ticket, I will sadly have to delay my arrival to College until I get enough money to afford all of the above. Hopefully, this delay will give me enough time to save and organize my arrival to the US!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I know I am just lucky enough to have this opportunity and will forever be grateful if you could help me!