“After 7 Years Of Turmoil I Am The First Person In My Family To Have Gone To University”- Lady Shares The Challenges She Encountered In Sch As She Finally Succeeds

A young lady named
Sara Sánchez has shared the financial challenges she has encountered while in school as she finally succeeds, becomes the first person in her family to have gone to university.

Read her post below, as shared on LinkedIn:

I arrived in the UK as a 15yr old girl.

Here’s how it went:

Year 1: Managed to learn English within 6 months
Year 2: Took my GCSE exams
Year 3: Chose my A levels
Year 4: Got into Loughborough University
Year 5: My whole world shattered

I still remember the day I got told I would receive no funding (tuition & maintenance loans) due to my immigration status. After getting into my top choice university I would no longer be able to attend. Where was I to find thousands of pounds to fund 3 years of education?

With the support of my friends and family, I set up a GoFundMe and managed to raise £6K. It was progress but it was nowhere near enough…

I was very fortunate to receive the Ark bursary to fund my living costs. Thanks to The Black Heart Foundation I managed to pay for my first year accomodation in full and partially for second year. I worked many jobs alongside my studies to pay for the rest.

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be a Southwark resident and thus elegible for the council’s scholarship which paid my tuition fees in full.

Today, after 7 years of turmoil I am the first person in my family to have gone to university!

My mother left the Dominican Republic decades ago and fought so hard for my future. I could not be happier to have fulfilled her dream and to do so debt free… This is a massive privilege and I am just so thankful to have been able to pull through ❤️