Help me get to MIT LLRISE program

Aloha! My name is Ciana-Lei Bence, I have recently been selected as 1 of 18 students from across the nation to participate in MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory Radar Introduction for Student Engineers or LLRISE program. This is a 2-week program in which I will be learning how to create a radar from scratch using 3D printing and engineering.

I am currently a rising senior at Kamehameha Schools Hawaiʻi campus and have plans on studying either astrophysics or engineering in college. I have always been super interested in science of every type but up until recently, I didn’t think I had what it takes to actually pursue a career in it. Though I’ve always excelled in math and science, I found that the lack of Native Hawaiian and other ethnic representation in the field of STEM subconsciously deterred me from the idea. However, in the past couple of years, I have found a true passion for STEM-related activity and hope to learn all that I can about as many fields of study as possible.

Although the program is free, the cost to get to Boston from the Big Island on such short notice is really expensive. The program starts on June 28th, so we only had a little over a month's notice to book everything. The cost of the airfare and hotels are over $5,000. I'm making this fundraiser so that it's not too much of a burden on my family to get me to the East Coast.

Thank you so much for your kōkua! I hope to make you all proud of my accomplishments in the near future!