Help Aldo pay his university tuition fees

Aldo Ruggiero is organizing this fundraiser.

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Dear all,

my name is Aldo Ruggiero, I am 20 years old and a 2nd-year undergraduate student of Philosophy and German at King’s College London, UK. I’m from Mola di Bari, a town in Apulia, a region in Southern Italy. I joined GoFundMe to ask for your help to pay the second instalment of my tuition fees (£10,914.50) which is due by the 31st of January 2023.

My single-income family has been doing everything in their power to fund my university studies. However, due to the termination of one of my father’s income sources, and the fact that he has been financially supporting not only me but also my brother and sister (studying at an English and American university, respectively), my family’s financial situation has become unsustainably difficult. Moreover, my family’s financial difficulties worsened when, due to Brexit, EU students became no longer eligible for UK student loans and faced tuition fees twice as high (from ca £9,000 to ca £20,000). Also, since my studies start in September 2021, King’s College London has not been offering any merit-based scholarships for EU students in my faculty to face these financial complications.

After realizing that I could not find any university scholarships, I successfully applied for a merit-based student loan (50.000€), offered by an Italian bank. However, the loan is only accessible per instalment (ca 6,000€) every six months, and I’m mainly using it to cover my accommodation fees (ca £9.000 this year) and living costs. The fact that we couldn’t find the money to pay the first instalment of my tuition fees (£10,914.50) led to my suspension this December. Although we managed to pay the amount eventually, this came at the expense of my father going into further debt, which he would no longer be able to endure henceforth. Now, finding funds for the second instalment of my tuition fees has become a pounding concern for my family and me. I’m worried that this situation will negatively impact my wellbeing and, subsequently, my academic performance (e.g., exams this incoming January).

Not only am I kindly asking you to support my studies to help my parents, but also because of the ever-lasting dedication and hard work I put into my studies. After completing each education cycle in Italy with the highest grade, I kept this very high achieving standard during my first year at KCL, as shown by the documents below containing my first-year grades and a commendation letter for receiving the highest grade of any student in two modules. Moreover, my commitment to my studies is epitomized by my participation in the AKC (Associateship of King’s College London), the KCL original award, and my successful application to the PGLA (Principal Global Leadership Award). Similarly, my active engagement within KCL is shown by my successful application to work as a Student Ambassador, and my volunteering positions as a mentor for first-year students, Wellbeing & Sustainability Manager of the KCL Italian Society and Event Officer of the KCL Politics Society.

Although my family was aware that letting me study in the UK was difficult due to their finances, they have worked more than hard to make this happen, because they believe in the value of education, and because my siblings and I consciously see education as the best investment for our future. Now, I just need some help from you to keep being enriched by its value, whose greatness I’m beyond grateful to have experienced so far.

Thank you for finding the time to read my letter,

with all the very best and Merry Christmas!

Aldo Ruggiero

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