Please Help Me Study at the University of Melbourne

Raising money for Masters in Australia - 2018 Mid Year (July) Intake

Hello! :)

I'm Marielle, and I came from the Philippines.

First of all, let me tell you the reason why I am trying to raise funds:

I recently got an offer from the University of Melbourne to take up the Master of Information Systems (2018 Mid Year Intake). Along with this, I was also offered the Melbourne School of Engineering scholarship, valued at AUD10,000 per annum. According to them, this scholarship is given to high-achieving student applicants in Unimelb's School of Engineering.

I am neither an Australian citizen nor an Australian permanent resident; therefore, tuition fee for me is higher than that of the standard. The course fee for international students for the entire 2 years is approximately AU$84,755 in total. Thankfully, because of the scholarship, AU$20,000 will be deducted from this amount, giving me an end total of AU$64,755 to raise.

Course Fee (2 years) AU$84,755
Scholarship – AU$20,000
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Need to Raise AU$64,755 + Money for Living Expenses

Aside from the tuition fee, I also have to take into consideration the living costs in Melbourne. Living in Melbourne is not a joke because of the high rental costs, as well as the overall high standard of living - food, utilities, services, etc. Of course, I will be looking for part-time jobs to help supplement my living expenses; however, I am not sure if I will be accepted for a part-time job right away. I have previously researched about this, and I found out that it is quite difficult for international students to find part-time jobs in Australia. There are times when it would literally take them months to find a job there.

Currently, I am based in a rural city in Japan, working in a Japanese IT company as an analyst. I've been working for almost two years now; however, I have little to no savings because of the high cost of living here in Japan, and because I am the one financing my brother's college education in the Philippines. My parents have no source of income; they are not working anymore because my father is already a senior citizen & my mother is a PWD. Therefore, it is safe to assume that I am the breadwinner of our family.

As for my educational background, I received my Bachelor of Science in Management degree from a prominent university in the Philippines in 2015. I also took up a Minor in Economics, a Minor in Decision Science, and a Minor in Business Development in order to complement my knowledge on business. I was actually a University Scholar back then; I'm very grateful to have been given the opportunity to study back in 2011-2015.

While I was in college, I was very active in student organizations. I headed my own projects and events, and I also became the Vice President of a student organization when I was in my senior year. Aside from being active in organizations, I was also busy running three small businesses when I was in college. I believe in experiential learning; and this kind of learning has helped me shaped my entrepreneurial mindset now.

The reason why I want to study Master of Information Systems:
I am very passionate about technology, and I believe that learning about tech will greatly complement the skills that I have right now. I am deciding to go down this route because it is my dream to build my own tech start-up in the future. Working in an IT company right now, I came to realize that technology really does make a difference in our lives. I want to make a difference in the lives of various people, including the underrepresented people in our society.

But before I will be able to fulfill my dream, I need to take up my Masters in Information Systems.

To everyone reading this, thank you so much for reading this message. I hope that you could help me. Or if not, I hope that you could refer me to someone else who could.

To everyone who will donate or have donated, THANK YOU SO MUCH. From the bottom of my heart. I promise to give back to society in every way that I can.

And again, thank you so much.