My name is Bea and I am a survivor of human trafficking.  I met a man who I thought was a great person and started what I thought was a relationship with him.  He invited me to go with him to Las Vegas, but when I got there, he locked me in a hotel room and he made money by forcing me to do things for strange men.  Within a month I had been to seven different states and forced to do things I did not want to do. I was starved, beaten, and had two of my teeth knocked out.

     I managed to escape and today I am enrolled at the University of California at Santa Cruz. I am a Linguistics major with a focus in French. I have worked very hard to overcome my past. I am working with resources on campus and in the community to heal from everything that I have experienced. I have totally separated myself from the city and people that I knew during that time in my life, and I want to keep moving forward.

           I have completed 4 years of college on a scholarship with a GPA of 3.7, but I still have a year to go. I got behind when I had to drop my classes and stay in a safe house for a year. My life was in jeopardy because my former trafficker was on the run from the police and I had to stay in the safe house until they found him and he was placed in custody.

           I have exhausted the limits of my four-year scholarship now, and need an additional $5000 for the coming 2018-2019 academic year.  I need to pay tuition before school starts in September. I have been working part-time as speaker for Rising International, but I can’t generate enough money to complete my education on my own.  When I graduate, my plan is to go to Law School as well as become an advocate and help other trafficking survivors. I am pleading for any donations and nothing is too small. Thank you for your help and supporting my hope for a new life.