Help Oleksandra "Sasha" Sereda get to College in US
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Hi everyone. This is Laura Cahill. I'm the founder of Young Playwrights Ukraine. Thank you all so much. We have raised enough money to send Sasha (Oleksandra Sereda) to college. She will attend SUNY Purchase in August 2024. She's applying for her Visa now. At this point, 100% all the money raised in this GoFundMe has been processed by Gofundme and deposited into my (CHASE Bank) personal savings account and will be used to pay Sasha Sereda's schooling.
We are raising funds for Sophia Hanziuk separately.
Amazing news!
Two members of Young Playwrights Ukraine, Sophia Hanziuk (17) and Sasha Sereda (19), got into SUNY Purchase for the fall of 2024. Sophia got into the BFA Acting program and Sasha the BFA Film program. It's a dream come true.
I've worked with these wonderful young artists for over two years and I care deeply about their future.
Sophia is in Ukraine where she lives with war every day. As you can see from the news right now, it's getting even harder in Ukraine.
Sasha is in Germany living as a refugee. Nothing for her is even close to permanent or stable. It's life on hold. She faces discrimination every day.
Staying where they are now means they will continue going to school virtually just like they have for the last two years.
They need classrooms, professors, peers, collaborators, opportunities and guidance.
They are fiercely talented. They got into the best programs in the US because of their talent and who they are as people. They're amazing, brave, kind, young people who will go far and make our business a better place for everyone they encounter.
I'm raising $36,000 for each of them because their family's entire lives have been so disrupted by war, they can't pay for their daughter to get the education they want for them.
We have to move quickly because Sophia and Sasha need to prove they can pay for college in their VISA applications.
Young Playwrights Ukraine
In early March of 2022, after the war began, I got on Zoom with a group of Ukrainian teenagers who had just fled their homes. They’d been my screenwriting students only weeks earlier. Reunited, we immediately began writing plays in response to the dark turn their lives had taken. The group quickly grew to include 16 writers from all over Ukraine and Europe.
Their plays have been performed by professional actors on Zoom, produced in Sweden, is about to have a reading at The Vineyard Theater in NYC and will be published by Smith and Kraus.
Financial Details from SUNY Purchase
- International undergraduate students pay about $8,500 in tuition every semester, so $17,000 for the year.
- There are some fees all students pay, about $950 per semester, so $1,900 for the full year.
- And the cost of living on campus, in the standard dormitory is about $4,500 per semester, or $9,000 per year. This may go up a little bit for next year, between 1-2%
- The cost of a standard meal plan is $3,100 per semester, $6,200 per year (all students living in the dormitories are required to have a meal plan, as the dorms do not have full kitchens). Same as with housing, this may go up a little bit for next year, between 1-2%
- Additionally, international students are required to purchase health insurance which will add about $2,000 for the year.
with love,
Laura Cahill
Organizer
Laura Cahill
Organizer
New York, NY