Dear friends & family,

As some of you may know, I am one of 32 college students in the United States to be accepted to the American Sociological Association’s Honors program this year. This is one of the most competitive programs for sociology in the country, and it is one of the best opportunities for young sociologists getting started in the field. I am so honored to be a part of it.

With the program, students will attend the ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago in August, present their research at a roundtable, mingle with some great sociologists, and take career and graduate program workshops! While the conference fee is waived, students still have to pay for their travel, lodging, and any other expenses of staying in the city for five days. Many of the larger schools represented in the program’s cohort are able to offset some of these costs for students who attend the conference. Unfortunately, as one of the students accepted from a much smaller school, this is not something that was available to me.

So, I am asking friends and family if they would be willing to help me with some of the costs of getting to the ASA Conference during the second week of August.

You might be asking, “Wow, that’s soon. Why are you only doing this now?” I’ve put off starting a GoFundMe or asking for any money for a while because I absolutely hate asking anyone to give me any part of their hard-earned income, especially given the current state of the world. But between the cost of attending ASA, the hundreds of dollars that go toward taking my GRE (Graduate Record Exam), and the hundreds more to apply to graduate programs, my continuing education is becoming a significant financial burden. To the extent that I am having trouble being able to afford to take the GRE and apply to PhD programs at all.

So, after some encouragement from friends, I decided to start a GoFundMe. I would be grateful for anything that anyone could give. Even a dollar or two would mean the world to me. If you aren’t able to give, even sharing this post would be a help.

The goal is $1,300. This is the cost of the hotel, train tickets, and the lowest estimate of my food expenses. If you’re familiar with Chicago, you will know that it is NOT a cheap city! Getting any part of that goal would be a help, even if I don’t reach that number. If there is any excess, it will go toward additional trip costs such as public transport and any additional food costs.

If anyone would like to hear more about the conference, why it’s important to my career, the research I’ll be presenting there, or even my grad-school plans, feel free to message me (instagram @kaitymccracken) and I would love to talk to you about it! But for now, consider donating if you are able. Share this post if you’d like to. I will be so thankful for any support y’all can give.

-Kaity