Hi there! How are you?

My name is Sylvia and I'm a Brazilian psychology student who has just gotten an unconditional offer to study at Royal Holloway University of London, starting September 2021. It has always been one of my biggest dreams to go to university abroad, but I never thought I would actually be given an opportunity like this someday, considering my coming from a very humble background. I am the first in my family to ever be enrolled in higher education, and I owe that to my father's determination and resilience. He grew up in conditions of extreme poverty in northeastern Brazil, taught himself the entirety of our national tax system by spending hours and hours on end reading in libraries, and worked his way up to a tax & accounting management position at Thomson Reuters (which he has now held for over 15 years), all the while raising 6 children. Although my family has been extremely blessed to now live in a much more comfortable financial situation than the one I was born to, the political and economic air has shifted, and the reality of our country is no longer a prosperous, hopeful one — especially for anyone looking to work in science. Amidst constant attacks from the current government against universities, human rights, the scientific community, the truth and democracy, I can't help but fear the prospect of my academic future, or of my future in general, as well as my family's. My father is now 68 years old and the only provider to my household, I'm afraid he won't be able to play that part for much longer. So, at 21, it is my responsibility to step in and make sure my little sister gets the education he enabled me to get, supporting them, my mother and myself financially. It is highly unlikely that I'll manage to do that successfully as a scientist in Brazil.

I don't mean to dwell but, If I'm asking you for help, I feel like I owe you a full explanation as to why I need it. I am a late-diagnosed autistic woman, which might sound weird to those who have a preconceived misconception of autism engraved in their mind, but the under-recognition of autism spectrum conditions in girls and women is actually a gravely common and dangerous issue that prevents us from having access to support at an early age, thus arising serious consequences for our health and well-being. I am not sharing this information in order to "play the victim" or get people to help me from a place of pity, but to explain why I long to work in science so much, and need to be somewhere that will grant me better opportunities. My biggest dream and professional goal is to help girls like me have a happier, healthier, more fruitful experience of the world than the one I was met with for so long, preventing unnecessary suffering through accessible neuropsychological work, while raising awareness to the dangers of misdiagnosis fueled by bigotry in scientific research. The Brazilian government's been pushing deep cuts of billions of reais (Brazilian currency) in science funding over the last few years, causing students to lose their scholarships, be forced to use obsolete equipment or stop the research they have been conducting altogether. This scenario makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to turn dreams such as mine into reality. 

That being said, due to the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis and the poor administrative skills of the current government, our currency has been suffering extreme devaluation, to the point where 1 pound is now worth about 7,78 reais, therefore making it outrageously expensive for anyone to leave the country. 

I have been pouring myself into academics my entire life, hoping that someday I might be able to study at a place like Royal Holloway. That dream is now closer to reach than even, after having earned the AAA-AAB equivalent grades necessary to be granted an unconditional offer, and the only thing standing in my way is money. I've been doing everything within my reach to get where I need to be, but I've now reached a point where things are out of my control, and I need help. I don't expect to reach the full goal in donations until September, but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try, as even half of the amount would already make a huge difference and perhaps enable me to actually go. 

Thank you SO much if you took the time to read this up to here, I will be forever grateful for any support I can get, even if you just share this fundraiser! 

Here's my PayPal e-mail if anyone would rather make direct transfers: sylviacdn@hotmail.com

On the pictures uploaded to this fundraiser you can find proof that I actually got into RHUL and need the money for that.

Hope life’s treating you kindly!

Here’s the link to my Paypal fundraiser in case you encounter any trouble donating through fundrazr: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=UMVLQXSQQCJXY