Grad School Fund

My goal is to raise funds to help pay for the tuition for my graduate program. I am currently a first year grad student with the CSUF Masters in Higher Education program. Please take a moment to read about my passion and the reason why education, as well as the pursuit of a higher education, is my world.
       We all experience obstacles in our lives that affect us, define us, in ways we can not describe. Experiences that shape who we are, who we want to become, and how we wish to change this world. Although my life has been marked with hard moments that have challenged and transformed me, none have been as detrimental and life-altering as the lack of accessibility to education. As children, my father left my brother and I at a very young age. His negligence left my family and I barely able to make ends meet. We went from school to school; home to home. Our financial limitations resulted in my brother and I being forced to stop going to schools for a few weeks. During this time, we were living in a third world country in which great financial standing is a requirement to pursue any kind of education. Although most twelve year olds would be happy to not have to go school, education has and will always be my anchor. Not being able to be with the one thing I love resulted in my everlasting desire to never be forcefully separated from my true love- education. It is the voice that told me I was good enough when my father told me I was nothing. It was the plea that begged me to not cut myself one more time; to not take another pill or another drink.  It is the only entity I regretted leaving behind as I overdosed on that cold Thursday morning. It was the pleasant caress that held my hands through the seizure and the pain. It is the melodic sweet voice that motivated me to keep living as I was being restrained in the mental hospital. It was the force that kept the demons created by my major clinical depression at bay. 
      Education became my cheerleader. Higher education became my escape when I was faced with the challenge of being a low-income Latina female who wished to go to college. When I was told no, education told me that I would obtain it all if I simply give it my all. My family and the legislative system expected me and put obstacles in place for me to become another statistic; to become mediocre. Although I was third in my graduating class with a GPA of three point nine, I was told I was ordinary. Through my financial and academic challenges to achieve a college degree, I was taught to fight and strive for social justice and inclusion. I applied to colleges and scholarships. Although sleep became a rare privilege, it was worth fighting to have a chance.  I applied to over ten scholarships and was awarded six of them. I was accepted into over three campuses and awarded financial aid for my first three undergrad years. Most of all, this experience taught me that hard work and determination are essential skills needed to defeat the norms put by society and the people within it regarding social justice and the right to education. As I graduated with my BSW from Cal State L.A. in 2019, my need for higher education was not satisfied. It is at that moment that I knew grad school would be my next academic challenge. 
     Upon obtaining my graduate degree, with the financial assistance of this fund, I will dedicate my professional life to work within higher education in order to strive every day to make micro and macro positive changes/impacts that will benefit all those whom want to achieve a college career. Through my degree, I hope to create or play a part within change for all those students whom, as I once did, thought obtaining a college degree was a  one in a million dream.