Help me stay in school!

Hi friends, family, strangers. It's me, Al(aina), and I need some help. I'm raising money to pay my spring tuition at UT Austin and February's back rent.

I am a first generation doctoral student in Performance as Public Practice, one of the top performance studies programs in the nation. I've worked very hard while being here and have had opportunities to present my work at two national professional conferences, as well as having an article preliminarily accepted into a pedagogy journal. 

As a black, queer and trans person, this hasn't been easy. I'm not going to lie and say I've always been successful. My mental health hasn't always been the best, and I was diagnosed with ADHD shortly after beginning. I have failed at things I wanted to be successful at as I learned to cope with these diagnoses. In addition, a little over a month ago, one of my emotional support animals unexpectedly died at a vet visit, and I've grieved her loss ever since. These things have affected my ability to maintain full-time status and receive financial aid benefits this semester, which is why I need help.

Here's what I want you to know: I want this. I want this more than I've wanted anything. My time in graduate school has shown me that not only does my research fill my cup and make me excited to live, it's also desperately needed in academia.  We need the voices of queer and trans folks, we need the voices of black and brown folks, we need disabled professors in the classroom, we need cash poor editors of academic journals. My voice, and the voice of other students and academics in similar situations is often ignored because of our circumstances. Even with my incredibly supportive faculty, I'm still falling through the cracks and a lot of it has to do with money.

I need $5420 as soon as possible. This is primarily because I haven't received a single paycheck this semester from my graduate assistantship because of the difficulties I was having with financial aid. In order to give myself a little more time on all my bills, I wrote a bad check for my tuition and my rent for March. All the money I've gotten from my freelancing job has been to handle my immediate needs like food, medicine, and supplies for my cats. 

The money breaks down like this: 

$3890 UT tuition
$1344.16 Rent and late fees
$185.84 Estimate of GoFundMe's deductions
(third row down is the tuition payment, due ASAP)
(rent total 1344.16)

I am already so appreciative that you even looked at this. If you would share it in your circles, especially amongst allies who have disposable income, that would be so helpful. Being able to stay in school is all I want right now, in the midst of all the emotional turmoil I've dealt with this year.

Thanks so much for your good vibes, blessings, and encouragement. This PhD is for ALL of us. And we gon get this degree!!!!