Hi, my name is Maria, and I’m fundraising to complete my master’s degree. My tuition (10,000 USD) is due by February 28.

Last July, after several months of emotionally demanding humanitarian work, I found myself depleted and unsure of what came next. After years of deep internal reckoning and intentionally shaping a life rooted in global solidarity, I felt an urgency to invest my time and labor into building something efficacious—impactful and sustainable. At the same time, I felt scattered, unsure how to gather my decade-long work across music, social justice, theology, and humanitarian ministry into a coherent whole.

One hot summer afternoon, I shared this tension with a friend and admitted how uncertain I felt about where to focus my energy. He—an alum of Trinity College Dublin—told me about a newly launched program at his alma mater that offered both structure and rigorous oversight. When I read the course description, it felt almost tailor-made. So, I gathered my materials and applied.

Within a week, I heard back. I was accepted—and, to my shock and delight, awarded a Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice scholarship for practitioners and leaders working on the frontlines of justice, advocacy, and social change, covering half of my tuition. With my initial fees covered, I made the scary (and thrilling) decision to move to Ireland in September, where I’m now earning an MPhil in Theology and Social Justice at Trinity College Dublin.

Our program is grounded in the conviction that theology—the systematic reflection on faith, practice, and experience, essentially God-talk—cannot be separated from the struggle against injustice. Its purpose is to explore the intersection of religious thought, ethics, and social justice activism, and to equip students to turn theological reflection into actionable social change. This work feels especially urgent given what’s unfolding in the U.S. and across the world right now: deepening social fractures, religious extremism, the normalization of state violence, the criminalization of protest, and the continued erosion of dignity for marginalized communities.

While I’m still very much in an exploratory phase, my primary focus is liberation theology—how it gives voice to the imprisoned, tortured, and forgotten, and how it insists on a hope grounded not in optimism, but in resistance and collective survival. Through this program, I’m working to become a more effective artivist: refining my writing daily, collaborating with movements and organizations serving local communities, and helping create disciplined, mobilized, and politically potent art and movements that push the collective imagination toward justice and dignity.

That’s the beginning of my story. If you’re able or feel called to support me financially, I’m urgently raising the 10,000 USD due on February 28. Any additional funds will go to covering my (late) January rent and living expenses as I (hopefully) near the end of my job search. Due to significant delays in immigration queues, I was unexpectedly unable to receive part-time work permission until just a couple of weeks ago. As a result, I went four months without any earned income and was barely able to pay bills, much less save toward tuition. I’m now at the very end of my resources, and even with work authorization, ongoing restrictions mean the budget remains extremely tight. Support during this transition would make an enormous difference.

Thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting however you’re able. It truly means more than I can say.

More updates to come. Until then—All power and dignity to the people of the world.

**FOR TRANSPARENCY SAKE**: Location for this project says San Diego because that is my city of my permanent residence, but I am fundraising from Ireland.