Hi there! My name is Lydia and I am currently raising support to help fund my summer program at New York University! It is a 4-week program from June 5th-June 30th that teaches publishing hopefuls the ins and outs of the publishing industry! This is beyond exciting for so many reasons! For starters, in 2020, I had the honor of graduating from Purdue University with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and a minor in dance! While I am so grateful for this milestone, it was one that unfortunately occurred at the start of the infamous coronavirus pandemic which meant that I had to try to transition into a post-college life in a world that was frozen. After three years of waiting in an extremely stagnant season, and struggling with navigating life fresh out of college in the ripeness of a pandemic, I believe that I’m finally starting to get my land legs!

For a while now, I have been toiling with the idea of pursuing a master's degree. My biggest challenge with this is that I have been so indecisive about what program I would even choose to study. I knew I wanted to do something that would pair well with creative writing, but the options were endless. Recently, I narrowed down my options to publishing because it covers a vast majority of the subjects I thought about studying: editing, communications, marketing, business, more writing, etc. NYU’s publishing master's degree in particular has been very enticing to me! Also, over the last year or two, it has been a thought of mine to spend a few weeks in NYC to explore the culture but mostly immerse myself in the arts. I had the pleasure of visiting NYC for the first time last year, and that trip super solidified my dreams and desires!

My goal is to raise $6220 in total by May 16th. This covers the program fee ($4400) as well as room and board ($455 a week in NYU’s housing). This goal is extremely daunting, but if you think about it, we could get there if 100 people donate about $62 each! By all means, you do not have to give $62. $1 is amazing, too! Anything helps! Even if you are not in a place to help support me financially, sharing this post helps a lot and is also a form of supporting me!

It’s so surreal knowing that I am getting a sneak peek of what going to NYU for Publishing would look like! The Summer Publishing Institute is a determining stepping stone for me as I consider fully taking the plunge to go back to school for my master's (hopefully at NYU)! Your taking a step to help support a dream of mine means the world to me! Who knows, maybe this is the first step to me winning a Tony! I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

Thank you so much for considering sponsoring my summer program! I am immensely grateful!!!

If you would like to read more about the Summer Publishing Institute, here is a link to the website! Feel free to reach out to me with any questions you might have!

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/homepage/academics/divisions-and-departments/center-for-publishing-and-applied-liberal-arts/summer-publishing-institute.html