Help fund Centauri's education!
My name is Centauri Wilson and I'm a student at the University of Oregon in the US! I'm 19 years old, I'm LGBTQ+, and I'm majoring in anthropology, psychology, and neuroscience (along with minors in biochemistry, disability studies, and queer studies). I struggle with issues such as depression, generalized anxiety, trauma, and ADHD. In my free time, I enjoy drawing, reading, advocacy, and working with children (once I'm fully vaccinated, I'll be returning to a local daycare to volunteer with the toddlers there, as I did before COVID started).
University, of course, is expensive. I'm lucky, however. I have the option to stay with my parents, I go to a university that isn't the most expensive in the world, I have a good academic standing, and I have strong ambitions about what I want to accomplish at school. As odd as it may sound, I feel like I thrive in an academic environment and I've always enjoyed learning and attending school.
Going to university and graduating was something I wanted since I was 10 years old.
I sacrificed sleepovers and hanging out with friends on the weekends over and over throughout high school, I sacrificed my mental health, my physical health. I struggled to eat enough and got an average of four hours of sleep a night in my senior year because of how many hours each day I spent on my classes.
Through my AP exams, I earned a total of 16 credits, more than a full term of college credits. I woke up at 6:00 AM on summer Saturdays every year because I knew getting those AP credits would make it easier to pay for college in the long run.
This dream became a lot more uncertain when I grew up and learned how expensive school is. My family has never made a whole lot, we've had many medical bills over the years, and only one of my parents has ever been able to have consistent work due to disability and medical reasons. I learned that it's less likely for people to finish college if their parents never attended/finished college. Graduation is less likely for LGBTQ+ folks, less likely for people who struggle with mental health, less likely for people with learning disabilities, less likely for people from low-income families. The odds are against me.
I knew that those sacrifices I made would help me fight those odds. So I continued to make them.
I like to think hard work can accomplish many, many things. And it can! But I'm not naive. Hard work cannot accomplish anything and everything. I worked hard and got recognition, but I still lack funds.
My upcoming sophomore (second) year of college is starting in Fall 2021 and ending at the end of Spring 2022. For itemized cost, here is the list:
- Term 1: $4,604 (due in September) for 16 credits
- Term 2: $3,619 (due in January) for 12 credits
- Term 3: $3,619 (due in April) for 12 credits
The total cost is nearly $11k. I decided to set this up, my first ever go-fund-me, because this amount is scary to me. Scholarships I won in my first year of university that helped me greatly aren't available to my for my second year because they address the most needy first, and then run out. I was lucky to get the scholarships last year, but I missed out for this upcoming year.
If this is how much it costs every single year, I really don't know if I can graduate. My last resort plan is to drop everything but my psychology major and try to graduate early. I want to keep that as a last resort, however, because I know how upset I'll be at having to give up my other areas of interest. My career ideas of wide and varied and I deeply love learning, and I have a deep passion for each of my areas of study.
Anything at all helps, even just $1.00. If you can't donate, please consider sharing this around. Anything helps!
If you happen to donate, thank you, so, so much. I deeply appreciate anything that comes of this. I really mean it when I say you're funding my dream.
University, of course, is expensive. I'm lucky, however. I have the option to stay with my parents, I go to a university that isn't the most expensive in the world, I have a good academic standing, and I have strong ambitions about what I want to accomplish at school. As odd as it may sound, I feel like I thrive in an academic environment and I've always enjoyed learning and attending school.
Going to university and graduating was something I wanted since I was 10 years old.
I sacrificed sleepovers and hanging out with friends on the weekends over and over throughout high school, I sacrificed my mental health, my physical health. I struggled to eat enough and got an average of four hours of sleep a night in my senior year because of how many hours each day I spent on my classes.
Through my AP exams, I earned a total of 16 credits, more than a full term of college credits. I woke up at 6:00 AM on summer Saturdays every year because I knew getting those AP credits would make it easier to pay for college in the long run.
This dream became a lot more uncertain when I grew up and learned how expensive school is. My family has never made a whole lot, we've had many medical bills over the years, and only one of my parents has ever been able to have consistent work due to disability and medical reasons. I learned that it's less likely for people to finish college if their parents never attended/finished college. Graduation is less likely for LGBTQ+ folks, less likely for people who struggle with mental health, less likely for people with learning disabilities, less likely for people from low-income families. The odds are against me.
I knew that those sacrifices I made would help me fight those odds. So I continued to make them.
I like to think hard work can accomplish many, many things. And it can! But I'm not naive. Hard work cannot accomplish anything and everything. I worked hard and got recognition, but I still lack funds.
My upcoming sophomore (second) year of college is starting in Fall 2021 and ending at the end of Spring 2022. For itemized cost, here is the list:
- Term 1: $4,604 (due in September) for 16 credits
- Term 2: $3,619 (due in January) for 12 credits
- Term 3: $3,619 (due in April) for 12 credits
The total cost is nearly $11k. I decided to set this up, my first ever go-fund-me, because this amount is scary to me. Scholarships I won in my first year of university that helped me greatly aren't available to my for my second year because they address the most needy first, and then run out. I was lucky to get the scholarships last year, but I missed out for this upcoming year.
If this is how much it costs every single year, I really don't know if I can graduate. My last resort plan is to drop everything but my psychology major and try to graduate early. I want to keep that as a last resort, however, because I know how upset I'll be at having to give up my other areas of interest. My career ideas of wide and varied and I deeply love learning, and I have a deep passion for each of my areas of study.
Anything at all helps, even just $1.00. If you can't donate, please consider sharing this around. Anything helps!
If you happen to donate, thank you, so, so much. I deeply appreciate anything that comes of this. I really mean it when I say you're funding my dream.
Co-organizers2
Centauri Wilson
Organizer
Eugene, OR
Jax Wilson
Co-organizer