Study Abroad in Tanzania, Africa

My name is Ebony Shannon, I am 23 years old and I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I've spent 22 years living in Brooklyn, but after receiving the news of my grandfathers passing, I took a leap of faith and moved to Atlanta, GA to be with my widowed grandmother. I am now a senior at Georgia State University as a full time student on the Campus Atlanta scholarship. With only a few semesters left at GSU, I decided that I wanted to take yet another leap of faith and attempt to study abroad for the first time. Despite great hesitance, I filled out an application to the GSU Program - Psychology of Skin Bleaching in Tanzania: From Slavery to Colonization to Contemporary Motivations (10th Century - Today). I thought it would be an amazing opportunity and that it would definitely be a life changing experience. After being interviewed, I was offered admission into the program. Shortly after this, the first thing that popped into my mind was how was I going to fund this trip? My current occupation is FULL time student, so income is sparse. Although I have plans to apply for several scholarships and do some active fundraising on my own, I need all the support and options I can get. As a young African-American female, this trip would be nothing but life changing for me. My career goals include family and community counseling and working to improve the status of high-risk and impoverished neighborhoods (much like the one I grew up in). I also want to continue my mentoring work with young women of color through the Young Women Rock! mentorship program based in NYC. Any donations received through GoFundMe will be used to fund my program fees, tuition prices, miscellaneous fees (i.e passport,student visa, travel funds, etc.). Donating to this fund will not only bring me that much closer to the experience of a life time & allow me to leave the country for the first time in my life, but also make my abilities to make changes among our youth in inner cities that much greater. It would mean the world to me to have this experience and ANY contribution, both great and small counts. I want to thank anyone who even took the time out to acknowledge this message, send prayers, good wishes, or actually made a donation! Thank you.