<div>Hi everyone! I’m Samantha - a now COLLEGE GRADUATE as of last week after 15 years in the making!!!! (I finished with an 3.98 GPA!) Asking for help is something that is… very, VERY hard for me. However, I’ve tried to change that narrative over the years - and your support as I’ve rebuilt my entire life has meant the world to me - and makes asking for help now a little less frightening!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Freshman (2010). Senior (2025!)
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/91683325_1749336748354174_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In 2014, addiction forced me to walk away from my education Spring of my Senior year at Penn State. I tried to go back two years later, failed, and had accepted that I’d always be a drunk failure who would never achieve her dreams - a thought that solidified as I worked dead-end jobs for the next 8 years.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>But oh, how wrong I was! I am now almost 6 years sober and have worked so hard to build an entirely new life and me that I’m proud to be. I have helped many friends get sober and make positive life changes, I’ve been teaching English to newly-arrived refugees, tutoring university writing, teaching kids-adults rock climbing and skating… and now I have, at long last, graduated summa cum laude from Oregon State University as of June 14th with my English degree! I truly never thought I’d live to see this day. But I’ve persevered. Yay!! :)
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/91683325_1750593975587249_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/91683325_1749337160725538_r." width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I have learned that nothing worthwhile is ever easy: getting sober and rebuilding my life has not been easy. Giving up the life I did build and loved to move towns and go back to school to struggle as a 33 year old who killed a lot of brain cells in addiction has not been easy - but doing it all again now, while making the biggest leap of my life so far, while needing to ask for help.. is even harder.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>In late March I was accepted into a TEFL certification program in Prague to teach English abroad - a program that I’ve dreamed of doing for over a decade!! In July, I will be doing the hardest thing I’ve done yet: leave the place I’ve built my beloved sober self and called home, Oregon, to move abroad and start to live this long-awaited next chapter of my life. My dream is finally coming true and I’m scared!!
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>If you know me even a little bit, then you know that traveling abroad has been a dream of mine since I was a child. 5th grade me wanted to be a Social Anthropologist studying the tribes of Africa! I read Geography books for fun, renaming myself after European cities. By middle school I dreamed of hosting my own comedy travel show! But.. I’ve never stepped foot outside of the US :( This program is the first real step towards the life I’ve always dreamed of: traveling, writing, teaching, helping others - I plan to get my Master’s abroad after teaching for a year to either keep teaching, or help others in recovery rebuild their own lives.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Unfortunately, as a full-time student this year, I have been unable to save much money - and money that I was hopeful for to make this massive move, fell through :( I’ve been trying to do this all alone: selling all my things while balancing 16 credits, work, teaching, volunteering, trying to make time for friends.. It’s been a lot! I’m tired.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>So, I’m doing the hard thing and asking for help for the first time, instead of just deciding that “if I can’t do it alone, then I shouldn’t do it.” Instead, I’m fundraising in hopes to cover:
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<ul>
<li>Money needed for year-long Visa (minimum $7,500 in my bank account BEFORE leaving!)
</li>
<li>Initial housing costs
</li>
<li>Getting set-up in a new country for the first time ever
</li>
</ul>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Truly anything helps, even $5! Or $1! I also understand what it’s like to not be able to give anything, so even sharing with others (got any rich friends or family? Haha..but do you?) or kinds words of support as I continue selling off all my belongings this next month I have left in Oregon….. well, I’ll be eternally grateful for all of it.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>I fly out from Oregon on July 15th to be with my family in Pennsylvania who couldn’t make it to my graduation for a few precious weeks before I fly to Prague (with a one day layover in Dublin, Ireland as my first country ever!!) on July 29th. I truly will miss you all and my life here. But if I live in the US again, or this doesn’t work out, I’m coming back to Oregon. I’m having a REALLY hard time with it all, and have been hardcore grieving, but this has been my dream for so, so long. I need to try it. I love you all!!!!!
</div>
<div><br />
</div><img alt="" media_type="3" src="https://d2g8igdw686xgo.cloudfront.net/91683325_174936012861885_r.jpeg" width="100%" />
<div><br />
</div>

Victoria Baldwin

Dionne Mejia

Stacey Harris

Anonymous

Michelle Curanzy

Lauren Lomprey

Kristine Jasperson

Danielle McKnight

Mitch Miller

Jennifer Kratzer

Jane Alcala

Anne Kelley

Kristen Owen

Sierra Carlson

Kayleb Candrilli

Marta Litwiller

Support Samantha’s Lifelong Dream after Graduation!

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Support Samantha’s Lifelong Dream after Graduation!

Still $2,135 to go. Help us build momentum.