Get Yasmin to Cambridge University

I hate asking for help.

I am a state-educated queer disabled woman of colour. Five years ago, I was in hospital under section. This month I got into Cambridge University to study Human, Social & Political Sciences.

I am not eligible for a student loan however, because I have studied before.

I briefly attended Imperial College in 2007, before my depression got the better of me. I was top of my class when I was prescribed an immoderate cocktail of psych meds that shook me into a blob of passivity. I studied at the University of Leeds in 2009, was a research scholar with a bursary, but I was sexually assaulted, fell behind and was forced to drop out. At the time I struggled with undiagnosed mental health issues including ADHD, complex post traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder. I spent much of my twenties in and out of hospital.

I am 32 years old now, medicated and engaging with therapy. I haven’t been admitted to hospital for years. I work hard on myself, and thanks to an excellent team of psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers, I’m showing signs of recovery.

Getting into Cambridge feels like vindication, a chance to prove the doubters wrong. But it’s also very personal: I want a challenge, I want to learn stuff, I want to have clever conversations with clever people,  in rooms that smell of old books.

I also want you to join me on this journey. Tuition at Cambridge costs £9250 a year. Please help me raise enough money to go to university.