Send Andres to College!

Hi, my name is Alyssa Murray, and I am fundraising on behalf of Andres Cardenas and his dream to go to and through college at one of the nation's top universities - Texas A&M.

I first met Andres in 2013 when I was his 5th Grade math teacher at KIPP in Houston, TX, and since then, I have had the privilege of watching him continue to grow up and pursue his goals. Andres was, and still is, an incredibly brilliant, ambitious, respectful, kind, and hard-working student. Andres' family has always stood by his side, supporting him and pushing him to be the best person he can be. Andres has excelled through high school, graduating as a Regent's Scholar from KIPP Generations Collegiate a few weeks ago. Given Andres' achievements and perfomance in the top quartile of his graduating class, Andres was accepted to Texas A&M Galveston, and will have the opportunity to attend and graduate from Texas A&M College Station after one year.

Andres, like all students, deserves to be able to attend the college of his dreams without funding standing in his way. With a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Texas A&M College Station, Andres will be on a life-changing path to access any career he desires. He will be a first-generataion college graduate. The socioeconomic status of his family should never be a barrier to his, or any student's, success.

We are working to address a $15,000 funding gap for Andres' education this coming school year. Andres continues to apply to scholarships and pursue alternative funding sources, but time is running out. Please consider giving anything you can to support this incredible young man.

Additionally, please consider reading Andres' words from one of his most recent scholarship submissions:

"For a lot of people, their future is unknown and the way that life will end up heading is also unpredictable. Everyone has their own desires and own goals. The choices they make to achieve them are also determined by how much they want it and by how far they will go to make them a reality. An ambitious goal of mine is to undertake a biomedical engineering major and this challenge is one that will shape the future of my career. Knowing that I had the potential to achieve it but not the funds to make it happen almost broke me.

As a student, my goal has always been to enter college and figure it out from there. But as time progressed I've figured out that college can be really expensive and sometimes all the support our parents can give isn't enough to get us through our dream school. My parents are hard workers and have to support the rest of my family. I understand that they can't fully support me with a lot of money as they also have two other children on the same path that they need to worry about. Knowing that I had to work harder than others was a given since I wasn't set with certain benefits others had.

It's through hard work and perseverance that I was accepted into Texas A&M. Once I had gotten accepted, I was over the moon as I realized that my hard work had paid. A few weeks ago, when the award letter came through, it was a different story. Not long after, I had a talk with my parents about the cost of attending, and because of this conversation, I ended up giving up on my dream. It was through a close friend that I got in contact with a very admirable person who allowed me to see hope for my upcoming term at A&M.

I haven't given up yet and I want to keep fighting to have the opportunity to make my goals achievable. I have already achieved some great things throughout my high school career. For example, I have made solid friendships that I truly believe will not fade, I have boosted my rank from 53 to the 25th, and also handled the workload of several AP classes. Knowing there are people out there willing to give allows people like me who are put in uncomfortable situations some motivation to keep pushing and show some grit when things go south. Knowing that I wasn't going to be able to have a college experience and be able to major in what I was genuinely interested in made me feel like I had lost all hope in the world especially because I prioritize school.

I want to become a biomedical engineer, a first-generation college student, and be a role model for my younger siblings who can look up to me when things get hard because I know as well as others that hard work is what gets you to truly shine."