Help me get to America to represent Australia!

Hi, I'm Matilda and I'm a year 10 student from Newcastle. At the end of last year I attended the National Finals for the Future Problem Solving Programme in Melbourne. This competition is designed for school students to develop their critical thinking and problem solving skills in the form of creative writing and performing. It is a great programme that runs in over 14 countries across the world, and is such an important platform that helps students find their voice to help them independently build their own future. By working to solve real world problems, students have to think both realistically and creatively in order to help solve the issues that we are inevitably going to be faced with in the future (e.g nanotechnology, Antarctica, urbanisation etc)

At the National final I was lucky enough to win in my division, and I have now been invited to represent Australia in the US in the international final! Students from Australia, Singapore, New Zealand, the US, and more will be competing. I have been participating in the competition for 5 years and this is the first time I have been invited to go to the international final, and it will definitely be my last year competing in this competition. I am the only student from Australia competing in the International final in my category, having had to compete against hundreds of other entries in order to get to this point. I am so thrilled about this opportunity. However to ensure that I can get there, I have a lot of work I need to do.

Part of my preparation is ensuring that my family is in a position to financially support me to get me there. I am aiming to raise $12,000 to cover my travel and accomodation costs due to the exchange rate from AUD to USD! I would be really grateful for any donations, as it has not been easy to fundraise in my local community. I would be incredibly thankful for any of your support!