Who am I?

Dear family, friends and well-wishers,

My name is Costa Wesele and am appealing for help to raise £6500 worth of tuition. I hold a BSc. Honors Degree in Psychology (First Class Pass) from the University of Zimbabwe, in Zimbabwe where I originally hail from. I am a student currently enrolled in the first year of a 3-year online MSc Data Science for Health & Social Care program at the University of Edinburgh. At the university, I am a volunteer student Program Representative for my cohort within the broader Usher Institute and the Deanery for Molecular, Genetic & Population Health Sciences. I also serve in various capacities as SU member, SSLC & SRQM committee member respectively.

Why do I need help?

As a function of a combination of personal circumstances, most of which are beyond my control, I am not able to fund year 2 tuition for 2023-24 academic year. Unlike the first year in which I was able to fund my tuition after a good 2.5 years of saving, this year, due to some unforeseen circumstances, I will not be able to achieve that feat. Given my income bracket, it would take me on average 2.5 years to save enough and this would mean I will have to wait until 2025 to enroll for year 2, which is too long academic break. I have recently been looking into some public scholarships without success because my of eligibility issues centered around my nationality, something that I can’t change unfortunately. When I enrolled for this program, I never

anticipated ever that I would publicly ask for help in this manner, which is personally discomforting, but a sudden upturn of personal fortune convinced me to think otherwise. So please help me if you can!!!

How much would this help translate into?

Given how much science & technology, big data & innovation continues to shape society and advance the cause of humanity, completing this program and in time bears so much promise of remarkably changing my professional and personal lives respectively. Most importantly, my career interests are broadly defined within healthcare technology domains of Precision Medicine, Health Informatics, Software Development and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science is a fundamental part of those career outcomes. Given how coveted Edinburgh is as a top research institute worldwide, I believe graduating from there will bestow on me not only coveted

scientific skills and also personal currency and privileges I would not ordinarily benefit from studying at an unknown university elsewhere in the world. This goes without saying that I am extremely ambitious and I believe I can get the best of my potential if I get exposed in a competitive environment. This is my story, and so I believe and hope as I wish upon a star.

Certificate of Matriculation at University of Edinburgh

https://www.star.euclid.ed.ac.uk/public/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_sso.go?rEOGoTxLUQaakDBFY9Dg234UdaUBjEHmiTfpeJgJYJqEtNFVtm

***Note: payments are in USD due to the fundraiser's bank details being US-based-- once the money is withdrawn it will be promptly transferred to Costa in UK pounds.