Help Yong Chen Get Back Home

Yong Chen is organising this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello, this is Yong Chen. I am launching this GoFundMe page for travel expenses to return to China. My anticipated goal is $2300 dollars which will all go toward the travel expense from Bloomington, IN to GuangZhou, China.

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Navigation:

1. A little about me

2. What first brought me here

3. Things I have done

4. What is going on

5. What do I need help with and What will I do with the donation

6. Future Plan

7. Appreciation and Promise

8. Pictures and Project showcase

A little about me:

I am a first-generation international F-1 college student studying in the U.S. from China. I completed my high-school degree at Tri-State Christian School in Dubuque, IA. My current degree and area of study is majoring in Business Management and minoring in Creative Technologies in Arts + Design at Indiana University Bloomington located in Bloomington, IN.

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What brought me here:

The pursuit of higher education is highly valued and expected in our family. Although my family members did not have the opportunities to enroll in college or higher educational institutes during their time, the mission is passed onto me. I first came to the U.S. 5 years ago to pursue my education, now I learned a tremendous amount of lessons and skills that I can apply for a lifetime.

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Things I have done:

Over the years spent in Dubuque, IA, I actively participated in local engagement around churches, families, and school activities. I joined Arbor Oak Bible Chapel for 4 years, volunteered with numerous project days(gardening, rooftop work), helped with event set up, and became a member of the Youth Group.

During school in TSCS, I was a member of the school Worship team for 2 years, drumming for 1, and singing for my Senior year. I was selected as one of the senior editors for the 2021-2022 school Yearbook and crowned as the campaign leader for candidate "Patricia the Potato". My weighted GPA was 4.2 / 4.0, claimed Academic and Principal's Honor all 4 years of high school. I was a member of the National Honor Society and a nominee of both NSHSS and the Congress of Future Medical Leaders.

My first semester at Indiana was a blast. I successfully enrolled in the Resident Hall Association Student Government serving as an Associate Director of Marketing, I recruited a team for the GroupMe Campus Connect semester program @IUB and was selected as 1 / 10 of the national finalists presented in the growth summit. I joined Asian Culture Center, Asian American and Pacific Islander Thematic Community, and Asian American Association to celebrate and guide my Asian heritage and cultures. I joined the campus ministry Chi Alpha to continue my Christian fellowship at Indiana.

My current GPA is 3.95 / 4.0, the original plan for the spring was to enroll in 6 business courses, work at ACC as an undergraduate assistant and accept the offer of being an experienced mentor serving for other GroupMe semester programs.

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What is going on:

I received an extremely difficult message at midnight on Dec 18th, 2022. My family is undergoing severe financial struggle and we are no longer able to fund my education in the U.S. Unfortunately and heartbrokenly I have to pause my program and return to China in the hope of returning in 2024 Fall.

During this holiday season, I need to contact the admission offices and submit documents, look for a travel plan back to Bloomington and China, and to learn how to say goodbye once again. The situation comes to a hard braking stop for my life as my college career only started accelerating a few months ago. Bittersweet is what I can describe it as: I have to leave my home to go back to my home.

However, I believed God has a bigger purpose for me. Rather than treating this as a barrier or an obstacle, I shall shift my focus to new opportunities and explore for the future betterment of myself.

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What do I need help with and What will I do with the donation:

My anticipated goal is $2300 dollars which will all go toward the travel expense from Bloomington, IN to GuangZhou, China.

I am currently in Dubuque, IA for the holiday, and is looking for a single-way travel plan back to Bloomington to pack all my stuff and plan to take off on Jan 24th, 2023 at Chicago O'Hare international airport.

I am also in need of storing my personal belongings during my time of absence located around Bloomington, IN. If you are interested that would like to help or know someone that would like to give a hand, please let me know.

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Future Plan:

By taking the correct approach, I will spread the Gospel to my fellow friends and relatives to tell them how much of the blessings I received and how much I grow in my absent time of seeing me. I can utilize my free time to devote myself to certain skills that I need to master like working out and learning an instrument.

I plan to follow in my father's footsteps and learn more about finance and business cooperation by working alongside him. I will apply to several internships with a major focus on college campuses in the area of innovation, research, and business affairs. I will use my advantages of speaking proficient English and international student status

to potentially become an English tutor and peer coach for other students.

My family and I will work our best to clear all of our loans and debts, in serving to save up enough funding for future education paths.

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Gratitude and Promise:

Explicitly, I want to express my gratitude to everyone that encourages me to be the one I become who I am right now, my fellow classmates and teachers at TSCS that led me to the Lord, the Vannorsdels that generously hosted me for 2 years, all my friends at APATC and Indiana that gave me joy and delights... God sent people into my life to burst my fire and passion toward life and I am so so grateful for that.

Hereby, I promise that I will keep my integrity and diligence, passion and enthusiasm, a heart up for any challenges, and great physical health for the next 2 years.

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Picture and Project showcase:

My Fall 2022 Resume

Global Engagement Scholarship video 2022 Yong Chen

My Fall 2022 Transcript

Fall 2022 project tracker

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