Emergency Tuition Funding for Film and Drama Student

Hi there! My name is Ariadna. I am a full-time international student doing the undergraduate degree for film and drama at the University of Kent in Canterbury, UK. I had a fantastic first year with first class grades, gaining the Rotary Prize for distinguished performance in Stage 1 examinations in the Faculty of Humanities, being a member of multiple student groups and societies, really making most of the university life while discovering my immense passion for performance in acting and dance. Alongside my main studies, I am also a musician that plays 3 instruments (violin, piano and guitar), doing a part-time distance learning degree at OCA (part of University for the Creative arts), as well as a short course for singing and songwriting at Point Blank Music School in London. Currently, I am in my second year at Kent, with the degree being three years long in total.

However, just as I found footing in the UK and in my studies, my dad very recently informed me from overseas that he is no longer able to support me financially. The news struck at a terrible moment, since I have already paid for the first part of the tuition fees and have already started the studies for this year, preparing the assignments and attending the lectures. The second part of the payment is due in slightly over a month, which is extremely little time to find any solution for the high amount I need to pay (£8.365). My mum is in a worse financial position than my dad, sacrificing a lot to provide me very limited help once in a while for living expenses. Since I am an international non-EU student from Serbia, my university is not able to offer support in any way for tuition, with the possibilities for help being only the maintenance fees. Sadly, this means that I will most likely have to terminate my studies for the time-being.

This feels so heartbreaking, since not only am I nearly half way through this year, but I also really feel at home here, having friends, fellow performers and society members I have met, all of whom I share similar interests with. I have also just started to polish my performance skills this summer, attending the three-week acting course for musical theater at Guildhall, and doing dance training at a dance studio in London, in a variety of styles, including ballet, jazz, contemporary, burlesque and tap, where I have also met many people that I value in my life. Uni was also a place where I gained skills I never considered before, such as stone carving, scuba diving, as well as juggling and other circus tricks. It is also a place where I started two societies myself, one of which is dedicated to develop vocal and performance skills for other students, where I teach intermediate singing, beat-boxing and other voice techniques. I have also been a part of a student group called Gulbankian Uncovered, as a part of the on-campus theater and cinema, where I was involved in organizing multiple events to engage students and performers, such as open mics, outdoor screenings and quizzes.

If this came any sooner and I had more time, I may have been able to find ways to earn money myself, as I am a very hard-working and diligent person, but this financial turmoil and nightmare really struck out of nowhere, as my father seemed very stable in his earnings and promised to take care of the tuition and other expenses. I feel very uncomfortable asking for money, but this funding page is my last resort. Any amount you donate is much appreciated and will be a step towards me staying and keep studying here. If you donate a certain amount, I have included some rewards that I would offer, connected to my performance and artistic skills.

You can also find my blog for the part-time degree for OCA that I'm doing, where you can listen to some of my compositions and read some of the extensive research I did regarding history and different styles of classical music:

https://canvas-shaped-of-silence.blog/

OCA also published one of the articles which includes my piece Gymnopedie-Impromptu for solo piano in the style of Eric Satie:

https://weareoca.com/study-visit-review/review-new...

Finally, I always demonstrated a particular interest in youth activism, volunteering for the local NGO "Kokoro" back home, where I was working on peer prevention against drug abuse, youth violence and other important social topics. I hope to continue my engagement on these issues during and after my studies, and I plan to give back to charitable organizations and NGOs, raising awareness about human rights and promoting interculturality among other things.

Ultimately, even if I have to go back, at least I know I have tried all my options, as well as being proud of all the things I have achieved in only one year f my studies here in the UK. Thank you!