Help Ashley get to Chapel Hill

You could ask anyone who knows me well what my dream job is. They will say librarian. I didn’t quite start out on that path when I began my undergraduate studies. I initially started my higher education as a music major. It was in the middle of my freshman Expository Essay course that my professor asked if he could use one of my papers as an example of a well-written essay in his other classes. I was flattered and told Dr. Kinnamon, “Of course!”, to which he responded, “You should be an English major.” By the end of my second semester freshman year, I had changed my major and requested that Dr. Kinnamon be my advisor. I spent a lot of the next three years in his office discussing Shakespeare and poring over papers. I wanted to go on to do something great to prove to him that he made the right decision to believe in me. When he passed away shortly after I graduated, I had to accept that now I would do something great in his memory instead.

Except I didn’t. I took a little break. Finances held me back from attending grad school right after earning my Bachelor’s degree. I still owed money to my college and there was a stop on my transcript, so I couldn’t apply anywhere. I couldn’t go on to get my Masters in Library Science (MLIS) like I intended, so I did the next best thing. I got a job as a bookseller. That little break turned into fourteen years. I’m hoping the break will be over come fall.

But I need help.

I did the hard part, already. I got accepted into UNC’s graduate program. It is the second best school in the country for an MLIS. It has the right classes I want to take to become a public librarian for youth services. It is also over 200 miles away. Student loans will help me survive once I get there, but I don’t get that financial assistance until after the term starts. I have to come up with enough money to move all of my belongings halfway across the state and pay for a deposit and first month’s rent on an apartment on my own. Please help my dream come true.