Please help get Azure to Harvard!

Hello!

My name is Azure and I have recently been accepted into Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) to get my Master's in Education and Human Development. I have been working in different childcare/education settings for the last 5-6 years and I am immensely ready to take the next steps on my journey. My educational path was far from ordinary with being home schooled my entire life and not attending college full-time until I was 22 years old. This unorthodox path has shaped who I am as a person, a learner, and the possibilities I see within the way we do education in our society. Pursuing my Master's degree has been something I have wanted to do for a very long time but I had a very difficult time finding programs that interested me enough to apply. I crave an educational experience that is far from ordinary, one that is innovative and will bring about positive change. For most of my adult life I have had this inexplicable passion for emotional development and aim to be a part of changing the way we approach child development as a whole. I feel very confident that my Master's in Human Development and Education from HGSE is going to be one big step on what I hope to be a long and fulfilling path in Education/Emotional Development. I feel like so many moments in my life have led me right here to this moment right now.

I'm going to FREAKING HARVARD!!

Below is a breakdown of what I need for the year per HGSE's website, though it's potentially going to be more given the current cost of living in Boston.

So obviously, it's Harvard, right? The school itself is expensive and also on the other side of the country from where I live currently. Surprisingly, it appears it may cost more to live in Cambridge than it does in the SF Bay Area. Unfortunately, I don’t currently qualify for traditional student aid and will be forced to use loans for any funds that I can’t raise by other means to afford this incredible opportunity. I’ve been working in education on a fairly modest salary while living in California so I haven’t been able to build savings and the program is only one highly intensive year so I likely won’t be able to work a part-time job while I attend HGSE. This has of course created a lot of anxiety but I have faith that the program/school will be worth it. So here I am, asking my amazing and incredibly limitless community for support in making this next big step in my life a reality. Any and all help you can give is so incredibly appreciated. I am so very grateful for all of the amazing support I've received during this whole process, starting with the application itself and then a continued huge outpouring of congrats, love, and encouragement around this massive life event. I genuinely would not be where I am today without my community and I love you all so much.

A small part of my journey to get here and where I hope it leads is below if you're interested in learning more about my currently unfolding story. A story that is full of beautiful synchronicities that have led me to this moment right now.

There are many places I could start, but I'll start with my first English class at Santa Monica College where I was assigned the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, toward the back of that book there was a mention of a school in the SF Bay Area that was focusing on emotional intelligence (now generally referred to as Social Emotional Learning/SEL) as a core part of their educational philosophy. I remember when I read about this school my first thought was literally "I think this might be what I want to do with my life". That moment shaped many of my choices during the years as I completed my BA in Psychology and many of the career choices I've made since. Years later I stumbled upon this amazing independent school for gifted kids called Nueva and ended up having an interview less than two weeks before the first day of school. While on the interview and exploring the school with my future mentors I found out that Nueva was the school mentioned in Emotional Intelligence, which is what first sparked my curiosity and passion for Social Emotional Learning & Development. I am currently in my 4th and final school year at Nueva and I am so very grateful for everything I have gained from working there. I was looking for a graduate program casually for years but nothing ever really felt right until a past coworker from Nueva introduced me to Harvard's Masters program. The more I learned about their program the more I had that same feeling I had reading about Nueva in Emotional Intelligence and during the interview for my current job; that feeling of something happening just the way it is supposed to. When I applied this past January I honestly was mostly doing it to prove to myself I could at least try. I looked and looked for other programs but still, the only one that made me feel that spark of joy and excitement was HGSE. It was the only school I managed to apply to and I genuinely did not expect to be accepted. When I saw that "Congratulations" message I screamed and then I cried (after which I called my mom and we screamed & cried together). One of my "big picture" visions is to be a part of creating a Social Emotional Resource center for families. This resource center would have a variety of professionally trained staff with a focus on social-emotional development for children and adults. In my observations, most folks don’t realize a different experience in their lives is possible, let alone know where to begin with creating that experience, and this center would hopefully be a place to begin shifting that thinking. To see this vision come to life, I need a greater understanding of the education system, child development, and how to support healthy emotional development.

I never expected this and my goodness, my life feels like it is about to begin in a way that I can barely fathom. I don't generally believe in the concept of destiny, but it is very very clear to me that life has a bigger plan for me than I can even conceive of right now and is not so gently nudging me forward. I have always loved the metaphor of the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, I feel like I'm in the stage where my wings are formed but I need them to grow a bit stronger before I'm ready to emerge as a strong and healthy butterfly.