Help me avail the education I deserve

Hi there! I am Harshitha Manjula Rajappa, a second year student at Queen’s University Belfast. I come from a middle class family in the South of India. My parents cannot afford to send me to college, thus I have been trying to fund myself.

I am an International Baccalaureate graduate from Canadian International School Bangalore, where I was awarded a full ride scholarship of two years to finish the diploma programme. Coming from a small town, this in itself was huge for me. I never dreamt that I would be able to pursue the IB or attend a school that nurtured my interests and propelled my ambitions. After IB, I had applied and gotten offers from some of the best universities in the UK and Canada including the University of Toronto and King’s College London. I had to reject all of my offers due to my financial inability. When I was losing all hope, my parents and I managed to find funding for my first year at Queen’s combined with scholarships from the university. This was a risk, knowing that I would have to work through college to save up for the two more years of my course but I took it. This was the education that I deserved, the one I struggled for years and finally had a chance to pursue. I have been awarded the India Academic Excellence Award at Queen’s for my first year which cut my tuition in half.

I have applied to all available scholarships as an international student. Although I did manage to get some, I am still in need of money to pay off the rest of my tuition for my second year. I have been looking for jobs ever since I moved to the UK in September 2020 but due to the lockdowns could not find any. Since January of 2021 I have been tutoring students online in Mathematics and Physics to save up for my fees.

I am a hardworking, efficient student enroute a first class BEng degree in Mechanical Engineering. I have received the GirlUp STEM 2021 scholarship, a full ride scholar and IB learner profile awardee at CIS Bangalore. I have also been awarded the Degree Plus award for my employability skills from Queen’s.

During my summer holidays I have been working full time and saving up every penny, but I am afraid that this won’t suffice. As a woman in STEM, I have been discouraged from pursuing my dreams plenty of times. But, I truly believe that I deserve an education, a degree that I’ve worked so hard for. Thus, I am requesting financial help from you. No matter how big or small the donation is, it can make my struggle worthwhile.