Help Sofia & Albert study abroad in New York!

Hi, we are Sofia and Albert and we are a couple from Denmark seeking financial aid for our studies abroad. First of all, WOW, you were not scared away by our financial goal! Well, now that you have made it so far and have not been frightened, why not continue reading?

We are two young people who have just been admitted to Columbia University and St. John’s University in New York for a semester this fall. On a regular basis Albert studies Communication and IT at University of Copenhagen, while Sofia studies Law also at University of Copenhagen. In addition to this, Albert works as a student assistant at one of the world's leading consulting and engineering companies, Ramboll. Sofia on the other hand, works as a student assistant at the Office of Prosecution in Copenhagen.

We met each other on a 3-month trip to Nepal, New Zealand and Fiji. On this trip we worked many different volunteer jobs, helping local communities in different aspects in their daily lives. In a small community in rural Nepal, we worked in a school teaching basic hygiene and English. In New Zealand we both took courses in personal development and communications, as this was an important part of our journey. Our last stop was Fiji. Here we witnessed first- hand what impact global warming can on local communities. We visited a coral farm and a small fishing community. In the coral farm, we saw how global sea temperatures affect the corals and how many of them are dying due to higher temperatures. In the small fishing community, we witnessed how they were struggling to catch enough fish to feed them all. We also visited the local school where we were distracting the children from the issues, by orchestrating a dance battle. These children seemed so happy, unaware of the struggles of their community.

The basis for our needs of helping other people comes from our childhood, where Sofia grew up with a mother who worked as a nurse at the Danish State Hospital in Copenhagen, helping others in need. As a small child, Albert lived in the Kingdom of Bhutan, where his father was a UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) officer, working together with the government on bringing the internet to Bhutan. This has led us both on a path where we also want to help less-developed countries and minorities in an ever-changing world, impacted by global warming and on the brink of a global crisis. This vision for our future led to our interest in studying abroad.

But what do we hope to gain from this exchange? Albert wishes to gain experience on how to help introduce technology-based solutions in a modern society, which he hopes can help him on his journey of helping lesser developed countries. Sofia on the other hand will take courses in human rights law, international environmental law and courses focusing on international co-operation. She hopes that these courses will help her to embark on a journey, where she can help communities around the world overcome their struggles with social and environmental sustainability and human rights.

Now to the less exciting part... We are currently underfinanced by approximately $50,000, which is an awful lot of money. But we know and hope that our efforts of searching and applying for scholarships and donations, will help a lot on this. Even if we’re lucky, we are likely to still need additional funding for our studies where just the study fees amount to nearly $40k. For that, we have created this GoFundMe.

This mission can be helped along the way by you! So thank you in advance for supporting our goals and acknowledging that they (and we) are worth your time and money. Whether you're in the fortunate position of being able to donate or not, thank you for reading this far.

You are all a part of our journey, and we thank you for your time and consideration!

- Sofia and Albert