Welcome to my gofundme page! Thank you for taking some time to read my story and make a contribution to my goal: to raise funds to pay for two of my doctoral classes for the coming academic year. That’s right!  Doctoral classes.  That’s when you have spent 6 years in college and want to spend another 4 years in school.  I love education!  I'm a little more than halfway through my Ed.D. doctoral program in higher education administration, and recently, I lost my job in an international education program. Along with the position, I lost my funding benefit for my degree. Doctoral credits are not cheap, so I’m asking for help to keep me going. I set my goal at $4,660 because that is what I need to cover doctoral credits for two classes (1 this fall; 1 this spring), student services fees, and the 2.9% rate that gofundme will keep from my fundraiser. I need to raise about half of this goal by mid-September or October at the latest and the rest by January 2021 to make sure my tuition payments are made on time. I hope to raise my own personal funds to cover a third class in the summer since I still have six required courses and three dissertation courses to take in my program. The good news is that I have completed 10 courses already and transferred in some credits too!

As a first-generation college student, I started on this path 20 years ago. Higher education seems/is exclusive. It takes time. But it is also so rewarding and so achievable if you have the right support systems and an abundance of grit. It is empowering to learn. I have worked as a specialist, director, adjunct, and assistant at various times and in various time zones. And I have earned an Associates, Bachelor's, and Master's degree previously.

What my experience has taught me is that there is still so much to learn and so much work to do to improve the system of higher education. I want to keep uncovering the layers of the institution that is higher ed and help craft policies and networks that make sense to me and that make it accessible to others.  I believe in the value of international education, equitable education, self-directed learning, life-long learning, pragmatic teaching, and experiential learning.

I'd like to explain why the job I lost was so important to me. Intensive English Programs (IEPs) serve as both a bridge to four-year degree programs and as temporary language-only training opportunities for non-native English speaking adults of a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and professions. Through working in IEPs for about 10 years, I have been a part of and helped facilitate the global connections and English language education for hundreds of shining examples of humanity. For people on our campus and in our community, our lives have been enriched by these students. I have learned invaluable cultural knowledge, flexed my empathy skills, developed my own pedagogical beliefs, and most importantly, learned how to listen. Listening is actually one of the best skills that an educator - or anyone can have in this world. Complicating factors from COVID-19 fallout, along with the state of international education in the U.S. resulted in the closing of my program. This breaks my heart. I feel like more doors should be opened for international exchanges, not closed if we want to truly develop our global investments in humanity, nature, commodities, and life-saving technology. 

I don't know whether I'll end up working in an another IEP in the future. One thing is certain though: when I get my doctoral degree and every day until then, I will be an advocate for international students studying in the U.S. I will be an advocate for giving diverse U.S. students opportunities to study abroad or study alongside their international counterparts. I will be an advocate for building a culture of listeners. My long-term goal is to become an institutional leader (higher ed, non-profit, public or private, domestic or foreign) who can open doors for others, and honestly for myself too, so that we can keep learning, keep striving to make our global and local communities stronger, safer, cleaner, and kinder to all.

Thank you for reading my story and for your contribution of any amount to help me stay on track with my goal!