Real talk:

After my dad died, my life took the strangest of detours. My plans for the future changed in the blink of an eye. I struggled with depression and anxiety, which interfered with my health and employability. Of course, I could proceed with a whole sonnet about all the reasons life is hard, but crying you a river about it isn’t really my thing. I'm exceedingly done with feeling sorry for myself. We all have it hard; I’m certainly not unique in that regard.

Anyone who knows me knows that my life is centered around recovery, my education, and taking care of a beloved family member in need. I also try to light up the world a bit when I’ve got the bandwidth. Through these hard times, I’ve remained anchored to my recovery community while excelling in school and caregiving. But in the grips of my grief spiral and related issues, it’s been very hard to balance everything with a gainful income.

At the same time, life is so, so beautiful. I'm a full-time online student at Maharishi International University and will be for many more years. Eventually, I will be a professor in the fields of creative writing and Vedic science. I'm also training to teach Transcendental Meditation.

Honestly, I'm on the fast track to shining, thriving days. I'm just still bogged down by these cumbersome financial setbacks from these past couple of years. I could really use your help for something important.

What I'm asking for is assistance paying for four trainings I'll need to take in succession (starting October 3, 2026) to prepare for my master's program and TM teacher specialization. This will help me stay on track with my education, which is truly helping me become the awesome, capable individual I was always meant to be (and I’ll pay it forward by empowering others as they similarly bloom).

Each of the four trainings requires additional travel and lodging expenses, so it breaks down like this:

The trainings themselves: $420 (full-time student rate) x 4 = $1,680

Gas and lodging: $600 x 4 = $2,400

Total requested: $4,080

Your help in reaching this goal would be such a relief for me. Anything helps, truly. My gratitude would know no bounds (but, plot twist: my gratitude for you already abounds, just by virtue of the fact that you exist). I’m actively developing my health (mental, physical, spiritual, financial, etc.) every day, and I am assuredly moving in the right direction. A little mercy and grace right now would go a long way in helping me stabilize, prosper, and give back abundantly on the road ahead!