College fund

I’m usually not one to ask for help, but I’m determined to provide a better future for my family. Because my mother and I no longer have the money for me to continue my education at Drexel University, my ability to do so has become imperiled.

The reality my family currently faces is the result of various tragedies spurred by my father’s death in 2014. Such an event has nearly indescribable effects. I never felt emptiness as deeply as I did after the funeral. To make matters worse, the fact that my father had been the sole income earner meant that my family didn’t even have the luxury to properly mourn his death without worrying about finances. My mother, who had not worked up to that point, suddenly had to take up two, then three, jobs to pay the bills. I also had to start working in order to help shoulder the burden.

Since then, our financial situation has never been stable, but we believed if we both worked hard, we could have enough money for me to finish college. We chose Drexel because it was the cheapest option for us, offering an abundance of scholarship money. College is not just earning a diploma for me; it implies a stable future for my entire family. I would be the first in my family to graduate from college, and the income potential after graduating from the Physician Assistant program I’m enrolled in would be sufficient to alleviate my mother’s current work burden and to pay for my brother’s college education as well.

Things like federal loans and the work study program are not available to an international student like me, and I am exhausting all of the scholarship money that I have obtained from Drexel. At the current rate we are going, I will not be able to remain in college for my second year, thus remaining in a state where I lose the potential to financially support my family effectively. Furthermore, if I cannot pay off the debt that has already accumulated, my academic account will be placed on hold. This is more than just jeopardizing my path towards graduation. It means that by trying to escape our low-income status, my family and I have further entrenched ourselves within the downward spiral of inescapable debt, most of it coming from a school I will not even have graduated from. If I cannot graduate from college quickly, I will be put in a situation where graduating will become even harder later on, as my brother also has to go to college, creating more financial expenditures.

My experience at Drexel so far has allowed me to grow and develop into someone that I never thought I could be. It would be amazing for me to continue on this path to success, but we’re powerless to change our reality without the altruism of others, which is why I’m seeking help today. Even the smallest of donations have the ability to formulate into means of escape from this situation. Thank you for taking time to read this post.

All the best,

Diego Gonzalez