Support Anna Banana's Dream To Intern In Thailand
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UPDATE: WITH ALL OF YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS WE HAVE MADE IT TO $3284! THESE PAST FEW MONTHS HAVE BEEN AN ONGOING EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER AND I AM INDEBTED TO YOU ALL ❤️ GOD IS AMAZING. DREAMS DO COME TRUE. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART.
Beloved Family, Friends, Newcomers, Distinguished Guests:
My name is Anna Trần Nguyễn and I will be graduating from the University of Santa Cruz this June with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. As my undergraduate career at this beautiful campus comes to an end, I am beginning to realize that my passion for serving others continues to exponentially grow more and more every day. In addition, I feel extremely blessed to inform you all that I will have the grand opportunity to intern in Thailand this summer. Specifically, I will be placed in Thai temple schools in Chiang Mai which offer inexpensive or free education to low-income Thai and ethnic minority groups. I will have the opportunity to work as a teacher’s aide alongside a permanent English teacher or even be a teacher myself. As an intern, I will actively participate in teaching, mentoring, homework assistance, classroom and lesson prep, and after-school activities with these wonderful Thai students.
I am here to inform you in regards to my Go Fund Me campaign that I am fundraising for my internship in Thailand this summer. After countless hours of writing essays, going through interviews, filling out tedious paperwork, and patiently waiting for my acceptance letter, I had finally received an email from UC Davis Summer Abroad that I had been fully accepted into the Thailand internship program in early February. As excited/grateful/ecstatic as I was, I wanted to wait until I was 110% sure that my financial aid would fully cover the cost of the program before spreading the news to my loved ones that I would be checking off one out of many things on my bucket list. For about a month and a half after receiving my acceptance letter, I went back and forth to multiple departments on campus not only to confirm that I would be granted full financial aid for the internship program, but that I was on track for graduation as well.
About two weeks ago, I went to the UCSC Financial Aid office to turn in my finalized paperwork for the program and was struck with the unexpected news that I would not be receiving any financial aid for my internship program. Feeling extremely helpless and distressed for these past two weeks, I have been struggling to stay strong mentally, emotionally, and academically. However, with the strong encouragement from my closest family and friends, I was able to find the strength to create a Go Fund Me account to advocate for myself and fundraise for this once in a lifetime internship. Despite facing all of these obstacles, challenges, and adversities these past 6 months, I refuse to allow this setback to stop me from traveling to Thailand this summer and vowed to myself that no matter what happens from here on out, I will fly to Thailand and make the absolute most of my experience while I am interning abroad this summer.
In January, I had left my Manager position at Potato Corner in order to pursue being a quadruple full-time student at two institutions: UCSC and Cabrillo College. I am attempting to complete 50 units in a span of 5-6 months and have about a week left before finals approaches for Cabrillo, as well as 4 weeks until I walk and graduate from UCSC in June. The value of education is something that I have understood since I was little. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to attend college and sacrificed their lives in order for me to live the life I get to live now. They made a commitment early in my life to do everything within their power to instill in me the love of learning and understanding the importance of hard work and dedication. Being the first in my family to go to college, I knew that my parents would never have the financial means to pay for my internship in Thailand this summer.
I graciously ask that if you have any financial means to support my campaign, that you would give me what you can. Something as small as $1 would make the biggest difference in the world to me. If you do not have the financial means to support me, I ask that you share this with your loved ones or anyone else that you know who could potentially have the financial means to donate to my campaign as well as keep me in your thoughts and prayers throughout the remainder of my time here at UCSC and Cabrillo College. You taking time off your precious schedules to read this novel means more to me than you could ever know. Your contributions to my campaign will make a significant impact in my life and from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you all for your unconditional love and support.
I truly believe that students who come from low-income backgrounds should have the same educational and cultural enrichment opportunities that more advantaged students have and also be given the opportunity to enter and succeed at higher education without feeling limited by their environment. This Thailand internship will not only fuel my passion for serving others even more, but it will also allow me to one day make a difference in our world to a greater extent, one heart at a time.
Thank you all once again for your time and consideration.
With love always,
Anna Banana
Contact info:
Email: [email redacted]
Venmo/CashApp/PayPal: nguyenhopes

Beloved Family, Friends, Newcomers, Distinguished Guests:
My name is Anna Trần Nguyễn and I will be graduating from the University of Santa Cruz this June with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. As my undergraduate career at this beautiful campus comes to an end, I am beginning to realize that my passion for serving others continues to exponentially grow more and more every day. In addition, I feel extremely blessed to inform you all that I will have the grand opportunity to intern in Thailand this summer. Specifically, I will be placed in Thai temple schools in Chiang Mai which offer inexpensive or free education to low-income Thai and ethnic minority groups. I will have the opportunity to work as a teacher’s aide alongside a permanent English teacher or even be a teacher myself. As an intern, I will actively participate in teaching, mentoring, homework assistance, classroom and lesson prep, and after-school activities with these wonderful Thai students.
I am here to inform you in regards to my Go Fund Me campaign that I am fundraising for my internship in Thailand this summer. After countless hours of writing essays, going through interviews, filling out tedious paperwork, and patiently waiting for my acceptance letter, I had finally received an email from UC Davis Summer Abroad that I had been fully accepted into the Thailand internship program in early February. As excited/grateful/ecstatic as I was, I wanted to wait until I was 110% sure that my financial aid would fully cover the cost of the program before spreading the news to my loved ones that I would be checking off one out of many things on my bucket list. For about a month and a half after receiving my acceptance letter, I went back and forth to multiple departments on campus not only to confirm that I would be granted full financial aid for the internship program, but that I was on track for graduation as well.
About two weeks ago, I went to the UCSC Financial Aid office to turn in my finalized paperwork for the program and was struck with the unexpected news that I would not be receiving any financial aid for my internship program. Feeling extremely helpless and distressed for these past two weeks, I have been struggling to stay strong mentally, emotionally, and academically. However, with the strong encouragement from my closest family and friends, I was able to find the strength to create a Go Fund Me account to advocate for myself and fundraise for this once in a lifetime internship. Despite facing all of these obstacles, challenges, and adversities these past 6 months, I refuse to allow this setback to stop me from traveling to Thailand this summer and vowed to myself that no matter what happens from here on out, I will fly to Thailand and make the absolute most of my experience while I am interning abroad this summer.
In January, I had left my Manager position at Potato Corner in order to pursue being a quadruple full-time student at two institutions: UCSC and Cabrillo College. I am attempting to complete 50 units in a span of 5-6 months and have about a week left before finals approaches for Cabrillo, as well as 4 weeks until I walk and graduate from UCSC in June. The value of education is something that I have understood since I was little. Neither of my parents had the opportunity to attend college and sacrificed their lives in order for me to live the life I get to live now. They made a commitment early in my life to do everything within their power to instill in me the love of learning and understanding the importance of hard work and dedication. Being the first in my family to go to college, I knew that my parents would never have the financial means to pay for my internship in Thailand this summer.
I graciously ask that if you have any financial means to support my campaign, that you would give me what you can. Something as small as $1 would make the biggest difference in the world to me. If you do not have the financial means to support me, I ask that you share this with your loved ones or anyone else that you know who could potentially have the financial means to donate to my campaign as well as keep me in your thoughts and prayers throughout the remainder of my time here at UCSC and Cabrillo College. You taking time off your precious schedules to read this novel means more to me than you could ever know. Your contributions to my campaign will make a significant impact in my life and from the bottom of my heart, I appreciate you all for your unconditional love and support.
I truly believe that students who come from low-income backgrounds should have the same educational and cultural enrichment opportunities that more advantaged students have and also be given the opportunity to enter and succeed at higher education without feeling limited by their environment. This Thailand internship will not only fuel my passion for serving others even more, but it will also allow me to one day make a difference in our world to a greater extent, one heart at a time.
Thank you all once again for your time and consideration.
With love always,
Anna Banana
Contact info:
Email: [email redacted]
Venmo/CashApp/PayPal: nguyenhopes
Organizer
Anna Nguyen
Organizer
Santa Cruz, CA