Help Shandra Raise Money For Her School Tuition

Hello everyone. I never thought I would have to resort to preparing something like this, but here we are. For those of you who do not know, I have been in school working my way towards my Bachelors Degree for Education, specifically concentrated in Visual Arts. I have an overall 3.8 GPA and have worked extremely hard to get to the point I am at today. This upcoming Fall, I will be entering into one of my last remaining two semesters before graduating. My expected graduation date was supposed to be this past May 2021, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, it was unfortunately pushed back a year. I am now supposed to graduate next May 2022.

Because I have been in school for 5 years, I was cut off from Financial Aid assistance once I hit my 4 year mark. I have been unable to afford school on my own since, so I have been putting every effort into applying for scholarships to cover tuition, alongside the unexpected help from a few family members that I will forever be so grateful for. This summer, I took everything out of my savings to pay for my two final courses required for graduation, leaving me with student teaching this upcoming Fall. Unfortunately, I have not been able to save for my two remaining semesters due to having to buy required school supplies on top of art supplies throughout these summer courses.

I am proud to say that because of my grades, and the notice I have received from certain educators at Wayne State, I have received a few private scholarships from the Education Department through Wayne State University. In order for me to receive the scholarships, it is required of me to be considered a full time student. I have to edit my credits to full time even though student teaching is considered part time (with the workload, it could arguably be considered full time) as well as the second semester. If I change my credits to the full time adjustment, I will owe full tuition except for what my scholarships cover, which is a little less than half per semester. If I keep the credit adjustment at part time, I lose my scholarships and have to pay the full tuition anyways. Either way it goes, I am in a lose, lose situation at this particular time. I do not want to risk the loss of my scholarships, but I also do not have the funds to cover any difference no matter what I choose to do.

I know this may sound confusing, but in simple terms, I cannot afford my schooling for my remaining two semesters before graduation. The payment plans that Wayne State offers are completely out of reach and unattainable to accomplish within the time frame they provide, especially with me going down to part time work for my first semester of student teaching, and will most likely not be working during my final semester because of the workload increasing dramatically. I am devastated and desperate, which is why I resorted to making this in hopes something can come of it. I am out of options at this point in time.

If you know me personally, you know this is extremely hard for me to do. I am a very independent person and I try my best to figure out my own situations myself. You could say I am a bit of a control freak, but this is a time I need to ask for help. I promise you, this is not being taken lightly, and any funds received will specifically be for school purposes and getting through these last 8 months of student teaching. I have wanted to be an Art Teacher since I could learn to hold a pencil, and I refuse to let this hinder my way to accomplish reaching what I consider to be my dream job.

I just want to say thank you for taking the time to read this, and if you decide to donate or share this on your social media platforms, please know it will not go unnoticed. I appreciate everyone's kindness and understanding in this matter and I will forever be grateful to any of the help received. Thank you again, so much from the bottom of my heart.