Tuition for Summer 2020 (Help a Senior Graduate!)

My name is Jillian Spence and I am a Howard University Senior, Health Management major from Queens, New York. I am in my fourth year at Howard and I have one more semester left to graduate in the Fall Semester of 2020 with a Bachelor's in Science degree. I have been on the Dean’s List for Academic Achievement for the majority of my university attendance and am currently on the Dean’s List as of Fall 2019. Previously, I was in the accelerated nursing program and have been on a nursing scholarship for students who are economically disadvantaged; but unfortunately, I was dismissed from the program by being shy of 0.7 points on an imperative nursing exam worth 20% of our grade. I have applied for scholarships with no luck and have been paying out-of-pocket for school ever since. This Spring semester has proven to be my most difficult one financially. On January 5th, 2020, my father suffered a stroke. Fortunately, it has been a partial stroke and he has potential for a full recovery, but the struggles came the same. He declared me as his health care proxy which put immediate responsibility on me. I have been going back and forth to New York to check in on him and to help him find documents to secure his Medicaid for a home health aid, and the current COVID pandemic has made it impossible for me to continue my bi-weekly check ups. Having to pay his phone bills for the past couple months, $200+ a month for the family plan on top of helping out with food and my own bills for utilities and rent has become the new norm. I am a part-time healthcare worker, a nurse extern at a hospital as well as a full-time student taking 20 credits this semester and do not have sufficient funds to support anyone besides myself. I have been placed in situations where helping out has put me in a vulnerable position of not having funds to feed myself or pay my bills. That on top of my dad having an unstable home environment as well as him and my family struggling with financial instability and food insecurity has caused my family to rely on me now more than ever. This has put an overwhelming amount of stress, anxiety, and unease in my life.


    I have been faced with more adversities than one can bear from a young age. When my mother, who was a registered nurse, fell ill when I was 11 years old I helped take care of her; bathe her, wash her, comb her hair, and got her ready for church. She passed away in 2010 and I have been very much mature and independent since then; always having a job, a savings account, and a stream of income. As I will continue to apply for scholarships, donations will help my immediate need to register for classes for my last semester at University. This will help me to graduate in the Fall and not Spring, which could potentially put me a year behind. This goal amount will cover tuition for the remainder of my balance for the Spring Semester, as well as tuition for summer classes (no longer provided due to restriction in my school’s revenue).

Thank you for listening to my story and any help is greatly appreciated!