Hello All!
First, I want to thank you for checking out my page!
Most of you know but me but for those who don’t here’s a little info about me:
After many detours I am back on the path to getting my degree and becoming a Physician Assistant.
I am 30, and a non-traditional student. I have lived the most amazing life and God has been good to me, though the road hasn’t always been smooth. I spent 7 years taking care of my father, the love of my life. He had Leukemia and received a stem cell transplant with several complications. (His story is amazing and worth reading, you can find it here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/peteradintino) In the end the complications took his life on March 20th 2011. It was a life changing event for me and I am so grateful that he allowed me to take care of him; I know one day I will be able to tell him what an honor it was to be his daughter and how much I love him!
That experience revealed to me who I really am and what I am meant to do in life. I am meant to be in the medical field helping people, as a Physician Assistant. This also means that I am 30 and still in school! Better late than never! I was lucky enough to be accepted into Le Moyne College in Syracuse NY, but unfortunately it is a bit more expensive than state schools so I am maxed out on my loans, grants and scholarships.
My dilemma is that I need to complete 3 courses over the summer in order to graduate on time. The first course is organic chemistry, the second and third are my foreign language courses. I want to complete them in Costa Rica studying abroad. At 30yrs old I have never left the country and never experienced another culture. My goal is to raise in total $5100 which includes: flight, room & board, tuition, insurance and spending money for the Costa Rica trip. I entered $3,000 because every little bit counts!
Why help me? Because I am asking. Asking for help is one of the hardest things for me to do. It is a great weakness of mine. But I realized a couple weeks ago that I need help.
My one goal while my dad was alive was to help him. I completed that goal and now I am on to my next. He made me promise him that I would finish school and I will keep that promise, not just for him, but for myself and for everyone out there that stood by and supported us while we were enduring trials. There are so many people out there that always believed in me and still do, I want to make them, my dad and myself proud.
Oh and if you find you aren't able to give you can help me by sharing this with as many people as possible! The more people that see this the better chance I have of making my goal possible!
Thank you!
-Linda