Help Lucy Stay in School
Donation protected
Hello All,
It's troubling that I find myself here again. But this is more important than anything I've ever needed, so I'm here to tell you all a short story about what's been going on with me.
At the end of April 2015 I finished my first semester at McNally Smith College of College of Music. Despite doing not so well in two of my nine classes (this was my first time back in school since May 2013), I finished with a 2.7 GPA and nothing but A's in my major classes. I even managed to wrangle high B's in classes that were very hard for me. During that first semester I not only made it through my first semester's classes but also wrote, directed, and performed in my first 2 person performance piece, helped book, advertise, and put on a show for my Language of Rap & Spoken Word class (while also organizing my own performance for the show), started a band, performed at multiple other events throughout the semester and worked full time on top of it all.
As the semester ended and summer came, I began having issues at my apartment that I had turned into my home- decorating, investing time and money into the space. We began to have issues with our landlord, who told us that we owed him money that we didn't. He refused to spray for the bedbugs that had infested part of our home, so we couldn't get anyone to move into rooms that had been left empty from the problem. It became a deep struggle to make rent. And then, all of the sudden my roommates were presented with an eviction notice. This from a landlord I'd never talked to or met, despite trying to. All of the sudden I had a few days to get out. I took what I could with me, but lost many precious things. Funiture, books, clothes, and my cat Maya, who I can only assume ran away from our old house or was taken, as I was not able to take her with me.
I had been looking for apartments for months, and only days ago (after crashing at a friends place since the end of June) did I secure a new home. I was really excited, and thought that everything was finally in place after another really hard summer. But it wasn't.
After registering for classes and getting my Fafsa in I recieved my award letter from McNally Smith for the next school year. Currently I have recieved $19,904 in financial aid from my school for the 2015-2016 school year , with my dependent and currently semi without a permenant address status. My program at McNally costs $27, 240 per year. this leaves me with a defacit of $7,336. i'm shooting for a goal of $7,600 to cover a few more things. Books for the year, which can be a couple hundred dollars per semester, some fundraising for my degree program (I am currently in a diploma program and will hopefully be transferring into a BS music production program for the '16-'17 school year, and I foresee having a similar issue) and one more problem I'd like to prepare for.
I have 3 jobs, 2 year round and one seasonal. I have been working at a small bistro in minneapolis for a year and a half, rose up the ranks a bit to a closing manager, and I recently found out through coworkers it's likely the owner will be selling the resturaunt without telling anyone. I don't have the luxury of waiting to find out if I've lost my main source of income suddenly, and my current metal state is not strong enough for another round of job searching.
_______________________________________
For those of you that know me, I know I should be okay with quiting school again but... I know myself. I've gotten to know myself real well.
It took me 3.5 years but i found a place where I could get what I need. McNally isn't perfect but I use it to my advantage and I'm getting better and I probably have more friends than i ever had, more people who respect me and what I do than I ever had. I've gotten farther in 6 months than I thought I could ever get.
So when I tell you i need to stay in school, no matter what, it's for the same reason that caused me to leave college almost 4 years ago.
I'm pretty sure I'll hurt myself so bad I won't be able to tell which way is home. Last time around I felt death so close we were breathing the same. And now it feels like the exact same crossroads with the exact same pull into something that is past hell I feel the exact same hole just waiting to pull me down so I need to stay in school and I need y'all to help me do it. I know y'all think I'm strong but I'm only as strong as my support system- just like everybody else.
I can not promise you that I will still be here ( in multiple ways) in another 6 or 8 months otherwise. If I don't stay in school I'll be losing not only 1 of my 3 jobs but 2 ( because one is a student worker job). I can feel myself falling, and I don't know if that or other practical needs of life will allow for 3-4 months of job searching.
Outside of this fundraiser I'm looking to family I still have and possibly petitioning my school for more aid. I'm not sure what's going to work, so I'm comming at this from all fronts and doing whatever I can.
That being said, I'm asking my community to do Its best in any way we can, so I can do my best for you all, as I try to do everyday.
I welcome any questions about what's been going on with me, or what I need. Thank you all for any help you can give, and please share this everywhere you can.
It's troubling that I find myself here again. But this is more important than anything I've ever needed, so I'm here to tell you all a short story about what's been going on with me.
At the end of April 2015 I finished my first semester at McNally Smith College of College of Music. Despite doing not so well in two of my nine classes (this was my first time back in school since May 2013), I finished with a 2.7 GPA and nothing but A's in my major classes. I even managed to wrangle high B's in classes that were very hard for me. During that first semester I not only made it through my first semester's classes but also wrote, directed, and performed in my first 2 person performance piece, helped book, advertise, and put on a show for my Language of Rap & Spoken Word class (while also organizing my own performance for the show), started a band, performed at multiple other events throughout the semester and worked full time on top of it all.
As the semester ended and summer came, I began having issues at my apartment that I had turned into my home- decorating, investing time and money into the space. We began to have issues with our landlord, who told us that we owed him money that we didn't. He refused to spray for the bedbugs that had infested part of our home, so we couldn't get anyone to move into rooms that had been left empty from the problem. It became a deep struggle to make rent. And then, all of the sudden my roommates were presented with an eviction notice. This from a landlord I'd never talked to or met, despite trying to. All of the sudden I had a few days to get out. I took what I could with me, but lost many precious things. Funiture, books, clothes, and my cat Maya, who I can only assume ran away from our old house or was taken, as I was not able to take her with me.
I had been looking for apartments for months, and only days ago (after crashing at a friends place since the end of June) did I secure a new home. I was really excited, and thought that everything was finally in place after another really hard summer. But it wasn't.
After registering for classes and getting my Fafsa in I recieved my award letter from McNally Smith for the next school year. Currently I have recieved $19,904 in financial aid from my school for the 2015-2016 school year , with my dependent and currently semi without a permenant address status. My program at McNally costs $27, 240 per year. this leaves me with a defacit of $7,336. i'm shooting for a goal of $7,600 to cover a few more things. Books for the year, which can be a couple hundred dollars per semester, some fundraising for my degree program (I am currently in a diploma program and will hopefully be transferring into a BS music production program for the '16-'17 school year, and I foresee having a similar issue) and one more problem I'd like to prepare for.
I have 3 jobs, 2 year round and one seasonal. I have been working at a small bistro in minneapolis for a year and a half, rose up the ranks a bit to a closing manager, and I recently found out through coworkers it's likely the owner will be selling the resturaunt without telling anyone. I don't have the luxury of waiting to find out if I've lost my main source of income suddenly, and my current metal state is not strong enough for another round of job searching.
_______________________________________
For those of you that know me, I know I should be okay with quiting school again but... I know myself. I've gotten to know myself real well.
It took me 3.5 years but i found a place where I could get what I need. McNally isn't perfect but I use it to my advantage and I'm getting better and I probably have more friends than i ever had, more people who respect me and what I do than I ever had. I've gotten farther in 6 months than I thought I could ever get.
So when I tell you i need to stay in school, no matter what, it's for the same reason that caused me to leave college almost 4 years ago.
I'm pretty sure I'll hurt myself so bad I won't be able to tell which way is home. Last time around I felt death so close we were breathing the same. And now it feels like the exact same crossroads with the exact same pull into something that is past hell I feel the exact same hole just waiting to pull me down so I need to stay in school and I need y'all to help me do it. I know y'all think I'm strong but I'm only as strong as my support system- just like everybody else.
I can not promise you that I will still be here ( in multiple ways) in another 6 or 8 months otherwise. If I don't stay in school I'll be losing not only 1 of my 3 jobs but 2 ( because one is a student worker job). I can feel myself falling, and I don't know if that or other practical needs of life will allow for 3-4 months of job searching.
Outside of this fundraiser I'm looking to family I still have and possibly petitioning my school for more aid. I'm not sure what's going to work, so I'm comming at this from all fronts and doing whatever I can.
That being said, I'm asking my community to do Its best in any way we can, so I can do my best for you all, as I try to do everyday.
I welcome any questions about what's been going on with me, or what I need. Thank you all for any help you can give, and please share this everywhere you can.
Organizer and beneficiary
Lucy Lucas Valentine
Organizer
Minneapolis, MN
Glory Yard
Beneficiary
