Cassie McHugh
We were contacted by Cassie McHugh's mother, Devin McHugh - who has been accepted to study Biological Sciences at Oxford. We spoke a couple of times with Devin, and have taken a close look at the related materials and felt obliged to do all we could to help.
The sad truth is that foreign student fees for Oxford are high - about $35,000 for the first year.
Cassie's mother is a single parent who does an excellent job as a pre- school teacher in Florida. Unfortunately, this is not a highly renumerative job, and Cassie's family are unable to come up with the fees.
They do think that they can come up with around $5,000 + tickets and cost of a laptop, but that still leaves $30,000 that they need to raise for Cassie to take her place.
Cassie's mother, Devin has tried numerous sources - including loans, scholarships and corporate sponsorship. These sources tend not to be available to undergraduate students.
As a last resort, Devin turned to the OAANY to see if we could help. From our conversations, we found Devin to be cheerful and positive. She wants to know that she tried everthing possible to get Cassie to Oxford.
We are hoping that an appeal to our membership might connect Cassie up with someone who can help.
Below is a copy of a letter that Cassie sent to a number of possible funding sources. Also, here are a couple of photo's of Cassie.
Graduation
With her family
To Whom It May Concern:
As a graduating high school senior, I have been accepted by Oxford University, England, to study Biological Sciences.
At present, I am searching high and low for ways to finance the high tuition expense and to be able to accept a place to study at this outstanding institution. If you have any ideas of how I might succeed in doing this, I would be forever grateful.
If needed, I will forward you a copy of my high school transcript, test scores, and academic resume. I would like to explain in my own words, though, my motivation for my chosen career path and more about me as a person.
Ever since I was a young, I have been curious about the world around me. My family always tells little anecdotes about how precocious my questions were, and how my inquisitive nature could never be satisfied. This aspect of my personality has held true over the years, and I am intrigued with many areas of study with science being my most favored. While this has caused some problems (we can’t see our coffee table beneath all the issues of Discovery and National Geographic anymore…), I consider it a gift. It has allowed me to excel academically, purely because I love learning for its own sake. In my opinion, you can’t help but have success in learning if the work itself is a hobby.
I have loved all the subjects that I’ve studied, but the biological sciences are my true passion. (Though, I have to say that when I try to share my new knowledge about the gastrointestinal tract at the dinner table, I’m met with less enthusiasm from my family. It’s true what they say; timing is everything…). In all seriousness, though, one of the things I enjoy most of all is sharing what I have learned with others. I’ve tutored other students throughout my high school years, and my Biology instructor told me that I have a knack for explaining difficult concepts in terms that everyone can understand. That compliment means so much to me, because what use is a head full of knowledge and ideas if you can’t share it?
This is partially the reason that I began my own science camps for children last year. There have been plenty of summer camps for music and various sports in our area, but nothing for kids who love science. It was so much fun for me to put together my own curriculum, as well as figuring out how to explain how evolution or diffusion works with a hands-on demonstration. My greatest thrill was being able to see how much they had learned (and that they wanted to ask me even deeper questions about the subjects we had covered). It had started out as a one-time summer camp, but then the children continued to ask their parents when the next session would be. Before I knew it, it had become a year-round aspect of my life, and I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. My proudest moment was when one of the girls in my camp helped me clean up, and took that opportunity to tell me that her friend had invited her to come along to a theme park for the day, but that she had chosen to attend my science camp instead. She even said it was a shame that her friend had missed-out on all the fun. From a nine-year-old, this is high praise indeed.
Though I would welcome the honor of becoming a professor someday, my immediate goal is to because a research scientist. There is still so much to be done for world health, and it seems like the more we learn about life, the more we realize we have far to go. Oxford is my chance to immediately study what I love, and to become a person who can make a positive difference in the lives of others.
I was asked to write something to be placed next to my senior picture in the yearbook. It did not take me long to put into words how I felt: “When your goals mirror your passions, you can be nothing but successful. May we all continue to acknowledge our passions, and may our passions be for the good of mankind.”
If it is at all possible, I want to accept this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I thank you for any help or suggestions that you may have in helping me reach my goal.
Sincerely,
Cassondra L. McHugh