Help Ivy Find Peace Away from Home

Hello! My name is Iliana (however I prefer the name Ivy) and I want to share a bit of my life with you before I explain the real deal.

Before I begin, I want to state I am physically safe at the moment. To continue, I am a full-time out of state college student, and my parents currently cover about $10,000 a semester financially. This is a struggle for my family financially, as we have quite a large family, my twin sister going to college as well, and it is difficult to balance financially. I do not get any financial aid, and my parents have to pay around $45,000 a year (each, for me and my twin sister) to make it by in our colleges.

Here is where the real problem lies. Bad news is, my family is incredibly toxic and has been to me for my entire life. My father is an abusive narcissist, ever since I became a teenager. My therapist is my only outlet besides my friends (as much as I avoid telling anyone the extent of my situation or any details), and this has made it difficult for me to see through my struggles emotionally.

My sister and my friends are everything to me. They have been my biggest supporters and my reason to go on. My boyfriend has helped me through the worst and most horrific periods of my life—and I worry constantly for my safety and have to beg for basic freedoms, just to see him. For once in my life, I feel loved in a way I cannot articulate, and it’s all i’ve ever needed. I don’t know who I’d be without my sister (or anyone for that matter) and God knows I surely would not feel comfortable at home if it wasn’t for her. It’s a different kind of pain when the only people that really know you are the friends you make along the course of your life. I never really got opportunities to spend time with them and hang out the way I wanted—as my parents have sheltered me beyond anything and refused to expose me to new things in life out of fear and control. Since, it has been a nightmare to learn independence on my own.

As of June 2025, I am on medical leave from my university due to physical illness and am stuck at home compared to my life with freedom on campus/back at school. My concern is that I plan to move myself out in a slow pace by Summer of 2026, so that I don’t have to sacrifice my mental wellbeing to live in some semblance of comfort. I will be taking on more hours at my job over the summer to support this journey, but any supporting money at all would help incredibly. Don’t feel obligated at all to donate—if you could at least share, that would mean the world to me. The money will entirely go to rent deposits/savings for the home and necessities prior to moving out that my parents do not provide.

My parents have always perpetuated that I am the most evil, cruel, supervillain-esque child to ever reign the earth. In a much less humorous way of course. So many of you have shown me truly what it feels like to be loved, and for that I will always be grateful. Saketh, I love you, and I pray the day will come where all of my troubles can just wash away in your arms.

If you read this all the way, I truly appreciate you. It means a lot that you read my story and want to support me. Thank you so much for sticking around!