Help Malachi Celebrate His Graduation in Europe

If you’re reading this, it must be because you know me and if you know me, I’m sure you know my son, Malachi, who is the sole reason I’ve created this GoFundMe. I will do my best to keep this short, sweet & to the point.

A little backstory on Malachi; he spent all of his adolescence working incredibly hard in school with one ultimate goal; obtain a full scholarship to attend college. Not only was he successful in doing so, but along the way, reached the top 5% of his class & maintained a 4.0 GPA nearly all through high school & graduated the International Baccalaureate program, magna cum laude in 2020. Unfortunately, COVID robbed him from walking with his class to receive his diploma & us, of seeing him do so, which is a damn travesty when you’ve worked so hard for it! For me, that’s a wound that’ll never heal.

Although Malachi got a full academic scholarship & probably could’ve had his pick of colleges to go to, he decided to remain at home in AZ to attend ASU, so that he could focus on his education & not have to worry about taking out student loans or anything like that to supplement living expenses & the like, so that when he did graduate, he would be debt-free. I’m so proud to say that he was able to accomplish this goal as well! Malachi took his one remaining final exam, last Friday & will be graduating tonight, May 8th at 7:30pm with the class of 2024 at the W.P. Carey School of Business, Gold Convocation (live link:  https://video.ibm.com/asutv (https://video.ibm.com/asutv)).

Obviously I couldn’t be prouder as a mother but the reason I’m reaching out to all of you is because I need a little help. Malachi has a group of guys that he has been friends with all through high school and college, and every year they take a trip together as a group, usually camping or renting a cabin somewhere… something usually, inexpensive, but this year, they’re all graduating college and getting ready to put their education into action and turn it into careers… so they’re not only celebrating the conclusion of not having to go to school anymore, but they’re also celebrating the beginning of their lives… really, their lives, for the first time, on their own terms. So, they wanted to go big and planned a trip to Europe where they’re going to go to Barcelona, Spain; Niće, France; and Florence, Milan and Rome, Italy. They’ll be gone for 15 days which is a decent vacation and as you could imagine it’s a significant price tag on it so that’s why I’m here asking for help. Malachi doesn’t know I’m doing this & am hoping to surprise him with it & relinquish some of his stress over it. As a single mother there are many things you struggle with, providing for your children & making sure they have everything they need & some of the things they want, it can be overwhelming, to say the least. Which is why I consider myself lucky that Malachi has always been the kind of son that tried to want as little as possible for sake of my feelings, which is why I want so desperately to make this happen for him.

Originally, Malachi wasn’t going to go and was going to turn down the trip, because we simply can’t afford it, but his friends refused to go without him so they’ve all pooled their money together to cover his expenses with the understanding that once he begins working when they come home that he’s going to pay them back. And as grateful as I am, that he has cultivated friendships with all these young gentlemen that they would go out of their way to make sure he’s there to experience this excursion with them. I’m beyond grateful. But that being said, Malachi is truly an extraordinary human being, who has grown into an incredible man & he has worked so hard to make sure that he doesn’t have any debt at the conclusion of school, and it would just break my heart to know that he was indebted to his friends from the get-go, so it’s compelled me to reach out to y’all for your help. I can’t even imagine how much it might cost. I’m 43 & I’ve barely been out of Arizona in my life. All I know is that I really want him to have a good time and experience absolutely everything he possibly can while he’s gone, without hesitation, if that makes sense. Malachi & his friends leave May 14th & return May 29th! He’ll have multiple plane tickets & additional travel expenses to get to/fro wherever they’re going Room & board for 14 nights & 15 days, food for 15 days & any excursion costs (I know they’re going to a game in Milan) and expenses for whatever else they might do while they’re abroad. Hopefully, he’ll be able to get some sort of memorabilia for himself as well as little keepsakes for his little brother & sister. Every little bit will help and we’d be incredibly grateful for anything that you can contribute. And if you have any suggestions of places for the boys to visit, please do share.

Thanks for taking the time!!