Raising to pay for school
Donation protected
My name is Alice and I am currently enrolled at NTC in Wausau, WI; working on a degree in IT Software Development. I know there are many GoFundMe drives regarding financial support for school tuition, and I completely understand their struggle. At the advice of a friend, I am sharing my story, and asking for help.
I was born in Wisconsin. Looking back I did not have much support growing up. My dad left when I was 5, and my mom fell into an addiction with gambling. Growing up for me was just how 75% of the millennials grew up: broken. During my middle school years I went to school in Minnesota, where we constantly moved from house to house with people I was not familiar with. It was toxic and nerve-racking; but my middle-school years are a different story. I decided to move back to Wisconsin with my grandparents during my freshman year of high school. The idea came to me after my mom lost my little brother to court. My mom was caught up with her own mess, and at the time I did not know what to do other than let her heal on her own. Sometimes the best remedy is time.
I was 14 at the time, and helped take care of my grandparents. I loved my grandparents and they always taught me right from wrong. I learned how to fix cars from my grandpa, and learned to speak their native language. I became very close to my grandparents, and I always will be. Throughout high school it had been hard, because my grandparents knew nothing about school in America. It was hard deciding what I wanted to do for school, and how I envision my life after high school. It all seemed like a blur. But, by my senior year of high school, I had reached out to many administrators at my school about college. I was serious about my future and I wanted to do what's best for me. I was so dedicated to my time and schooling that I finished high school a semester early, and I started taking college courses in high school and some computer classes, because certain areas that were focused in technology came naturally to me – like the hardware components and computer languages like Java and Python. I loved how much advanced detail there was to learn and how fast the world around us was changing.
I began teaching myself C# during high school and when I reached college, I decided to pursue a degree in IT Software. I had a class in C#, and it came to me quickly. I love coding and I even love testing code. Which may be why I had the chance to become an Instructor’s Assistant for a programming class called: Object Oriented Programming. Writing and debugging code was and will always be a love of mine. However, during my last semester, I had to cut my semester short from school because of money problems. I had to replace my car, which I took a loan out for. I ended up moving out from my grandparents because my younger cousins had moved in with them, and the household environment became way too stressful to study in. It was not the greatest situation, but it felt nice to have freedom and become independent. Then with my bills piling up, I found out that my mom had been using my social security number to sign up for other things, which hurt my credit score, and left me with multiple collection fees. When I took the rest of the semester off to work and pay off my bills it felt good, but I missed school.
Last month, I went to visit my mom who lives in LA. I arrived at LAX airport and called her to tell her that I was there. She said to go back home. It hurt. The person I thought would be there for me, even though she stepped on me so many times, now pushed me away even farther. It was one of the hardest moments for me to finally realize she is just a toxic parent, and that it was time for me to move on. I struggled to find a way back home to Wisconsin which was humiliating. The only person who was willing to help me was a friend that I hardly know, and it tears me apart to realize that blood is not thicker than water. When I got back home to Wisconsin, I locked myself up for days just trying to process what happened. I got insults from my own mom because I explained to my grandparents the situation. At that moment, I decided to block my mom out of my life.
I am 21, and my life is just beginning. I don’t want to start my life with negativity and anger. I do not suffer from depression, and I do not use drugs to cope with stress. I must keep moving forward. I want to better my future and I want to do that by finishing school. I hope to find a career doing what I love. My main focus now is to work, pay off bills, and save money so I can attend college again next semester.
I would be sincerely grateful for any donations, or just sharing my story with some of your friends. I hope my story sheds light on where I came from and who I hope to become.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Kind regards,
Alice
Here is a report card from a previous semester:
Here is a school email about finishing classes that would allow me to get a specific certification:
I was born in Wisconsin. Looking back I did not have much support growing up. My dad left when I was 5, and my mom fell into an addiction with gambling. Growing up for me was just how 75% of the millennials grew up: broken. During my middle school years I went to school in Minnesota, where we constantly moved from house to house with people I was not familiar with. It was toxic and nerve-racking; but my middle-school years are a different story. I decided to move back to Wisconsin with my grandparents during my freshman year of high school. The idea came to me after my mom lost my little brother to court. My mom was caught up with her own mess, and at the time I did not know what to do other than let her heal on her own. Sometimes the best remedy is time.
I was 14 at the time, and helped take care of my grandparents. I loved my grandparents and they always taught me right from wrong. I learned how to fix cars from my grandpa, and learned to speak their native language. I became very close to my grandparents, and I always will be. Throughout high school it had been hard, because my grandparents knew nothing about school in America. It was hard deciding what I wanted to do for school, and how I envision my life after high school. It all seemed like a blur. But, by my senior year of high school, I had reached out to many administrators at my school about college. I was serious about my future and I wanted to do what's best for me. I was so dedicated to my time and schooling that I finished high school a semester early, and I started taking college courses in high school and some computer classes, because certain areas that were focused in technology came naturally to me – like the hardware components and computer languages like Java and Python. I loved how much advanced detail there was to learn and how fast the world around us was changing.
I began teaching myself C# during high school and when I reached college, I decided to pursue a degree in IT Software. I had a class in C#, and it came to me quickly. I love coding and I even love testing code. Which may be why I had the chance to become an Instructor’s Assistant for a programming class called: Object Oriented Programming. Writing and debugging code was and will always be a love of mine. However, during my last semester, I had to cut my semester short from school because of money problems. I had to replace my car, which I took a loan out for. I ended up moving out from my grandparents because my younger cousins had moved in with them, and the household environment became way too stressful to study in. It was not the greatest situation, but it felt nice to have freedom and become independent. Then with my bills piling up, I found out that my mom had been using my social security number to sign up for other things, which hurt my credit score, and left me with multiple collection fees. When I took the rest of the semester off to work and pay off my bills it felt good, but I missed school.
Last month, I went to visit my mom who lives in LA. I arrived at LAX airport and called her to tell her that I was there. She said to go back home. It hurt. The person I thought would be there for me, even though she stepped on me so many times, now pushed me away even farther. It was one of the hardest moments for me to finally realize she is just a toxic parent, and that it was time for me to move on. I struggled to find a way back home to Wisconsin which was humiliating. The only person who was willing to help me was a friend that I hardly know, and it tears me apart to realize that blood is not thicker than water. When I got back home to Wisconsin, I locked myself up for days just trying to process what happened. I got insults from my own mom because I explained to my grandparents the situation. At that moment, I decided to block my mom out of my life.
I am 21, and my life is just beginning. I don’t want to start my life with negativity and anger. I do not suffer from depression, and I do not use drugs to cope with stress. I must keep moving forward. I want to better my future and I want to do that by finishing school. I hope to find a career doing what I love. My main focus now is to work, pay off bills, and save money so I can attend college again next semester.
I would be sincerely grateful for any donations, or just sharing my story with some of your friends. I hope my story sheds light on where I came from and who I hope to become.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story.
Kind regards,
Alice
Here is a report card from a previous semester:
Here is a school email about finishing classes that would allow me to get a specific certification:
Organizer
Alice C
Organizer
Wausau, WI
