Secret Reporters No place to hide
With the help of her peers and Internet communities, who have already shown support by hashtaging #Oxford10000, Rachael Owhin, a 23 year old law graduate from North West London is launching a campaign at midnight to raise £10,000 in 10 days towards her tuitions fees for a master’s at the University of Oxford.
Rachael was offered a place on the MSc in Migration Studies, a course for which only 27 students selected worldwide will be undertaking.
This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to migration, a hot topic of today, through the lens of law, politics, sociology, anthropology, and economics.
“Going to Oxford is nothing short of a dream come true for me” says Rachael. “It’s a dream that I didn’t have the courage to realise for so long. This is an invaluable opportunity and one that I cannot allow to pass me by.”
Oxford demand the full £18,100 tuition and college fees from Rachael by Monday 1st September but she has only £8,215 at present and is taking the Government Career Development Loan for her living costs and books. However, even with the loan and her impressive savings she is still £10,000 short!
“It’s almost as if I’m being penalised for raising my aspirations. This course costs more than three times what it would cost if I undertook it at the University of Sussex where I complete my undergraduate degree.”
“How is it possible for a student like myself from a single parent family to undertake postgraduate study at such an institution? This opportunity is not accessible to all and that is a real shame.”
Rachael is an alumna of the prestigious Powerlist Foundation Leadership School and volunteers as a buddy on the programme every summer. “How can I encourage my peers and younger students to pursue such opportunities when it’s almost impossible for them to actually achieve them?”
The Powerlist Foundation bid for a Post 16 Leadership College has recently been approved by the Department for, in conjunction with Aspirations Academy Trust, and will open in September 2015.
“I believe in the power and value of education. It’s been the seed that has provided me with the best opportunities I’ve experienced in my life so far.”
“Because of education, I’ve travelled to the United States, China, South Africa, France, Belgium, and around the UK. Not to mention the number of internships I have been accepted on to, including placements and programmes at Capitol Hill in Washington DC, Clifford Chance, the Children’s Defence Fund, Scottish Parliament, Matrix and No5 Chambers. Education even gave me the opportunity to meet Oprah!”
“It’s a shame that even in the UK, students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, like myself, need a leg up in order to level the playing field in employment and academia.
Organisations like SEO, the BLD Foundation, RARE Recruitment, and the Powerlist Foundation are vital to the success and progression of ethnic minority students who happen to fall among the most financially deprived students in the UK.”
“It is proven that diversity is an essential component for the success of all companies in the 21st century so it should be the number one priority of organisations and academic institutions to ensure they are attracting and retaining a diverse workforce.”
“I went to a state school where the GCSE pass rate was 43%, meaning more than half of my peers did not achieve 5 A* – C grades after 5 years of school. I’m just so grateful to have made it as far as I have and thank my family and networks for their support – it truly takes a village to raise a child.” Rachael was up against students who attended independent schools when she applied for the HEFCE Scholarship, one of the very few Oxford scholarships that she was eligible to apply for.
“Postgraduate fees and funding in the UK are huge issues and something really needs to be done about it – I want to be part of the change.”
Rachael, with her mother and sisters, runs the Jewels Scholarship Fund charity, which raises money for academically gifted but financially deprived young girls from around the world. The charity has recently completed funding the tuition fees of a 1st class student who studied at the University of Kent. Due to her involvement in the charity, Rachael cannot be supported.
“It’s a tragedy that academically gifted students are unable to realise their dreams due to financial circumstances. If you have the ability, nothing should stand in the way of you achieving your potential.”
In 10 days she will have to pay the full tuition and college fees, but is £10,000 short of the £26,000 required. Today she has launched the campaign #OXFORD10000 to raise “£10,000 IN 10 DAYS!”
#OXFORD10000 is NOW LIVE for donations: http://spsr.me/VESDjk and they have been rolling through – £3,404 in the first 18 hours of the campaign!
Thanks in advance for donating.
