Help Lift My Son Mylo’s Self Esteem & Confidence

Our 17-year-old son Mylo is sweet, smart, compassionate, creative, caring, and ever since I was diagnosed with Stage III Triple Negative Breast Cancer when he was two years old—leaving me with extreme chronic pain and a mountain of mysterious serious symptoms including the inability to walk much, see clearly, hear, tremors, speak at times, just to name a few—Mylo and his sister, who is 14 months older, have been my caretakers, making them mature beyond their years.

Mylo is now a senior in high school and has submitted his college applications, with his goal of becoming a Game Designer/Developer. For the first time in his young life, he wants to take an extracurricular course through UBC Extended Learning on VR/Unity—an intensive 10-week course taught by Circuit Stream, during which he will produce a multi-project portfolio that he will present to industry experts for feedback, as well as receive certification to be a Unity programmer; he will also take a four-week C# fundamentals course and have 10 hours one-on-one time with an industry expert. He will be able to network and gain invaluable advice from people in the gaming industry, all before he begins college in September. I am thrilled that he will be getting guidance from people on which path to take at the right moment when he has to make this decision, when he starts hearing back from the schools to which he’s applied.

Normally, my ex-husband/his father is to pay for extracurriculars. But he doesn’t agree on this path for his own reasons and thus refuses to pay for the course. However, we will do what it takes to give our son the best opportunities. I am enrolled at Langara College because I need to take prerequisites for my UBC Advanced Nursing School application. I am using my financial aid to help pay for this $5000 course, as well as working as much as I can in my newly established housekeeping business. I have been unable to work the past three years due to disability, and raising three children on one income (my husband’s) in one of the most expensive cities in the world isn’t easy. But my health has almost miraculously and willfully improved in the last six months, and both my husband and I are hard workers, doing whatever we can and will for our children. 

I hesitate in setting up this GoFundMe, but I’m doing so because some friends have encouraged me to do it since they are so generous and compassionate and want to help out. They have watched our children grow up, have read our story for over a decade, and are proud of our kiddos’ accomplishments.

Thank you so much for your support! Mylo is so humble, unsure of himself, and lacks confidence. He has no idea how creative and  smart he is, and the extent of his abilities. I believe this course will not only give him education and skills but also boost his self esteem. I’m excited to see what he comes up with in this course and to share his projects/portfolio with you when it happens! Thank you so much for reading and listening! Love, Brandy, Anton, & Mylo