Help first gen international student Regina!

Hello! My name is Regina, but I usually go by Reggie, and I am looking for funding to help me finish my last year of undergraduate here at Hendrix College. I am a graduate of the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso, Texas and grew up in Juarez, Mexico.

To attend high school, I had to cross the United States-Mexico border every day, usually waking up at 4 AM to get to school on time. I graduated 15th in my class and was accepted to Hendrix College, a school I always wanted to go to. I am a first-generation college student, and I would become the first woman in my family to finish college. During my first four years, I was impacted by COVID as well as mental health struggles, and I am going to have to take a fifth year to finish college.

My first four years of college were covered completely by donors and generous financial aid from the school. However, Hendrix is not able to cover a fifth year for me to finish my education and even though I have some generous donors this year as well, with rising tuition costs combined with inflation, the cost of a fifth year to finish my schooling is going to be much higher than I expected.

My education is very important to me. I hope to someday go on to medical school, where I plan to study neurosurgery. I study biochemistry and have worked on several undergraduate research projects, one of which was in conjunction with the Biochemistry department at the University of Indiana. I have spent a lot of time in college nurturing my faith journey, participating in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship Program and being part of the College Ministry at First United Methodist Church in Conway, Arkansas.

If my funding is approved, I use the money to pay for tuition, room and board and insurance for the year 2023-2024 at Hendrix College. I hope to graduate in May