Hello, my lovely supporters and/or people who are reading a bit of my story for the first time. 

I want to start out with the picture attached to this page. It was days before I came to the University of San Diego as a first-year student and I celebrated with my family and close friends. I am a first-generation, low-income college student and I never truly thought college would be my reality after high school. I was so excited to make my family proud and be a role model for them. I became so excited and anxious to take on all of the opportunities college had to offer; I was naive yet optimistic, which explains my situation today.

Since being on campus, I hold many identities and roles. I am a full-time student studying sociology. I am a part-time worker at the United Front Multicultural Commons where I have planned events, programming, and collaborating with multiple student leaders and departments. I am on our Associated Student Government, chair of our student organization committee, and a senator for my residence hall. I am the founder and president of the student org Alliance of Disability Advocates where we talk about, listen to and demand that underrepresented stories/experiences be heard. Outside of my USD bubble, I actively try to be involved in the community of Linda Vista, with national programs, and anywhere else my interests peak and opportunities lie. I am telling y'all about my roles because it is important to know who you are supporting and the work I am doing. I live to be involved by creating new experiences for myself in order to become more connected, better developed and aware of the services I can bring to people.

This past spring, I committed to going to a 3-week study abroad program in Florence, Italy.  Our group will be taking a Chemistry class along with learning about the history of European regions. I have never been outside the country and I knew I could not afford to do so, but our International Office promoted this opportunity as accessible to low-income students and assured me I would be okay (with minor expenses that may come up on my own). I was naive yet optimistic. Recently, I have become more aware of the (hidden) expenses and the difficulty I have had as a first-generation, low-income disabled student wanting to travel abroad. Out of pocket and without much help from our study abroad office or the disability resource center, I am having expenses come up. I had to pay for my airline ($1,200). I have to pay for my own accessibility needs to, from and during our trip ($60 for renting the wheelchair, $40 for a metro pass in Florence since walking times are at least 30 min "on average" everywhere we go, and anything else I need for accommodations). I also have to pay for lunch and dinner every day since only breakfast is included in the program (approx. $400). I am all about transparency, so the numbers are not to expose anyone but to understand the finances involved; the whole program is $5,500 and right now I am having to pay the rest of the program $3,500 (excluding the $600 for accessibility and food). I have talked about withdrawing from the program altogether but I was informed that I would not get my deposit back ($250), I would still have to pay for the program fee ($2,800) and I would get half of my flight back ($600). At this point, I am doing everything to stay in the program and just pay the rest so I can enjoy the trip. 

I am completely aware that I knew I had to pay for the rest of the program (as our financial aid office told me), but I am also realizing the identities I hold and the ignorance and confusion that came with this program since I have never done this before and I already have a hard time navigating college in general. I am not asking for sympathy or an "I'm sorry," even though both are valid on how to respond, I am just reaching out to my resources (since USD is not helpful and doesn't know how to work with first-gen/low-income students). I want to be transparent and vulnerable with you all yet it is very embarrassing to have to admit. I appreciate if you have gotten this far and it is totally fine if you are unable to financially support, at least I am able to share my story which is NOT unique yet does go unheard from many college students who hold these identities. 

I know I'll be okay by taking it day by day.
Thank you so much.