hELLO!
- I'm raising £18,700 to pay for my MA in Education at Harvard University - please help me to help others!
aBOUT ME
- I'm Rosie, a 22 year old from London with a love of music and the arts.
- I've been given a place to study at Harvard, for an MA in 'Arts in Education' run by the Graduate School of Education. You can check out how amazing the course is here.
- I'm using my savings from my part-time job as well as a loan to pay for my living costs once I'm out there (about £15,000).
- But I still need to raise the money to pay for the fees!
break down of fees
- The fees currently stand at $43,280 for one year - a whopping £28,700!
- Harvard have given me a grant of £10,000 but I need to crowdfund the remaining £18,700.
why should you help?
I suppose the big question is why should you help? I've got three big passions in life - music, art and education. This course combines all three, and will give me the tools to bring music, art, theatre, dance etc to people who might not ever experience them, particularly elderly communities and young people. Read on to find out more!
MUSIC
Music in general forms a really large part of my life. I've been playing the piano since I was a wee young girl, and took up singing when I was 11, and trumpet and bass guitar a bit after that. I was incredibly lucky to get into the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama when I was 15 and studied classical voice there.
At university I took singing a lot more seriously, and became a choral scholar in the Chapel Choir as well as being president of the Music Society in my final year. I went back to my more jazzy routes too, and sang with The Sirens (a female a cappella group) for all three years, of which you can see some snazzy pictures above and listen to us here.
I realise I was very fortunate to be able to pursue music, and I heartily support campaigns such as this -for learning an instrument is proven to increase your teamwork, discipline, self-confidence and performance in other subjects- and I was lucky enough to put this into action in my final year, when the Chapel Choir went to Bedford Prison.
ART
Academically, the study of art is what I've specialised in over the past few years. I studied History of Art for my BA at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, and am currently at the Courtauld Institute of Art studying for an MA in the History of Photography and Film. At the end of my second year I became president of the Fine Arts Society, as well as sitting on the college's Fine Arts Committee, and I organised a college-wide art competition and exhibition that was open to anyone who studied or worked at the college.
As soon as my degree was finished I spent two months working for Kettle's Yard Gallery in their temporary exhibition, and volunteered during their family afternoons on Sundays. I'm very aware that the study of art and visits to museums are considered 'elite' activities, and Harvard agree with me on this - the course I will be doing actively combats issues such as these by teaching students how to deliver art-based and creative initiatives to all communities. You can read more about Havard's mission to do this here.
EDUCATION
When choosing a college at Cambridge I picked Fitzwilliam College, as it was founded in 1869 with the aim of admitting students who couldn't afford the tuition and living fees at Cambridge which I considered a very important piece of our history. I always had this in the back of my mind during my time at Fitz, and I loved hearing from old students who are also committed to social justice - you can read a blog I wrote about the amazing work of Carlene Firmin over here.
In my first year I also got involved with an education charity called Oxbridge Summer Camps Abroad, where I went to Hong Kong for 6 weeks to teach on an English summer camp with some absolutely fantastic kids that I still keep in contact with. I returned to Hong Kong the following year as director of the summer camp, and since August 2013 I've stayed involved with the charity as a trustee, where I help to organise our recruitment and teacher training. To help pay for this MA I've also been working as a tutor, where I've cemented my love of working with young children aged 2-5, which is an age group I hope to focus on more in the future.
HELP ME TO HELP OTHERS
- Harvard's 'Arts in Education' MA actively lets me combine these three passions, and will give me indispensable training on how to actively bring music and art to young people.
- I'm also incredibly keen to learn how the arts can help elderly communities. My grandma died of Alzheimer's Disease in 2011, and I see music not only as a way to stimulate brain activity, but also to help patients and their carers express themselves in a fun and safe environment.
- If you're someone who has benefited from the arts, music, and a decent education in your life I would be incredibly appreciative if you would donate to give someone else the same opportunities - you'll be helping me to help others.
- Working in education is not going to make me a millionaire. You can be rest assured that I'm not trying to raise this money for personal gain, but to help me on the path to achieve what I've stated on this page.
- I've put together some reward incentives on the right hand side of the page, but even if you just donate £1 I would be very grateful
