Tuition for Genderqueer Black Teen

TW// My name is Jay Rahim and I am 17 years old. I am from Durham, North Carolina and a first-gen citizen in my family, who is from Freetown, Sierra Leone. On December 15, I would definitely say my dreams of living in New York to become a journalist and activist came true when I recieved an acceptance to Ivy league historically female institution Barnard College. Throughout my high school experience, I've fought for marginalized communities and have presented to administration at my school and even local officials/leaders for student power and voice within my community. I've performed spoken word and speeches at protests for BLM and for local movements involving removing School Resource Officers from Durham Public Schools and advocating for Black voices within media. I've done intense research on the School to Prison Pipeline in order to aid students of color in various ways as well. To fight for others is in my blood, and I knew going to Barnard and majoring in Journalism and Sociology would lead me to being a great change agent beyond Durham. However, my senior year has been the most difficult year in my high school career, as not only has COVID-19 lead to my father being fired from his job and having little to no financial contributions to me or my college funds, my mother, who has raised five children on her own, has had a difficult time handling all expenses on her own as her business has been running at a great loss since COVID-19 began, and even before that. I am a survivor of sexual abuse and molestation, and  this year I attempted suicide through an overdose, leading me to be admitted into a mental health facility for a week and being diagnosed with Major Depression and PTSD. Those expenses came hard to my mother, and it was very difficult to figure out how to afford all those expenses while also paying for other bills for our family. I want to be clear that all of this was stated in grave detail within my FAFSA and CSS Profile, two applications that college students have to complete and submit to recieve financial aid from their institutions. Despite all these descrepancies being stated, Barnard College has REFUSED to reevalute my financial aid package and has REFUSED to increase my award. I have requested for a reevalution FOUR TIMES, and each response has been curt, with no benefit of anything moving forward for my financial aid. Creating this fundraiser is my final cry for help, as to be able to go to the college of my dreams is a great blessing that not a lot of genderqueer black students are able to have. I have started the fundraiser at $1500, but I hope to increase it by summer 2021.