Help Violet Teach the Next Generation

Hey everyone. Please help our son's girlfriend, Violet, fulfill her college aspirations. She is facing financial hardship in making her dreams come true. 100% of the funds raised will go towards her tuition along with room and board. The following is something she wrote to better explain her situation. In 2016, my mother died from a drug overdose. My father had just lost his job six months prior, and the combination of his unemployment, hospital bills, and funeral costs had left us homeless. We were evicted, couch surfing with only the things my sister and I could carry in a milk crate. In the span of two months, I lost my mom, my dogs, my belongings, and my childhood home. In the last five years, my dad has had several different jobs— none of them paying more than minimum wage. This instability has made him unable to support me at all throughout middle & high school; most definitely not college. Despite the fact that I have a job, anything I make is not even close to what I need to pay for all of the expenses that come along with college and living on your own. Even with the help of a FAFSA loan, I would still need to take out tens of thousands of dollars in loans to cover the cost of tuition alone. Despite my circumstances, I have been given an opportunity to completely change my life. Furthering my education provides hope for a future opposite of the one I previously thought was my fate. For as long as I can remember, school has always been a sanctuary for me. It was a place where I could escape the chaos of my life at home and find solace in learning. I can still picture the shame I felt as I showed up to school with unkempt hair and no lunch-- until one teacher completely changed everything. She shared her food with me every day, filling my stomach and my heart with kindness. She brushed my hair and helped me with my homework, offering me a sense of stability and care that I had never known before. Thanks to her, I developed a love for learning that has shaped many of my passions. I was able to understand the power of kindness and the impact a singular person could have on another’s life. As I look back on these memories, one day, I hope I will have the opportunity to help and positively impact others as an educator and a person. If able, I hope to attend university in the fall to pursue early childhood education. I hope to pay forward the love and compassion that was shown to me by seeing the potential in every child, especially the ones who struggle to see it in themselves.