Hello all, my name is Arturo Gonzalez and three years ago I suffered a brain aneurysm and a stroke which almost took my life. I was 22 at the time and am 25 now and got a chance to go back to school only 7 months after a surgical clipping was performed in the affected area. I had a lot of disabilities that I was left with but the hope that one day I would be able to finish my degree and return to life as normal. I not only had those disabilities but many goals that I had not yet met and that I knew nothing could keep me from completing, one of those goals was to finish my degree in economics at the University of California San Diego and I am on the brink of finishing and graduating in 2015. Another goal of mine in my long list of goals is to travel abroad to study, an opportunity that I am just now getting to try to accomplish. The biggest issue we have as students is not being able to fund our education, not having the necessary funds to do things like travel abroad to be able to expand our education. After my aneurysm I never once thought that going abroad would be a possibility but I believe I am far enough in my recovery to attempt to fulfill this goal. I am attempting to apply for a program offered by my university to study jazz in Paris for a month this summer. I would like to know if you could refer me to any scholarships available to brain aneurysm survivors. I believe strongly that education is the key to success and am blessed to have this opportunity despite the bump in the road that I went through at 22. Thank you all for your time and I appreciate any input.
I hope our members know of scholarship opportunities for you, Arturo. Congratulations on your upcoming graduation. That is quite an achievement -- well done! Traveling abroad is terrific. I took the plunge and moved to Europe myself a couple of months ago. It is a great adventure, and I hope that great adventures are in store for you, too. All the best to you!
I saw a response, but then it vanished, Arturo? I moved to the Netherlands. I am just starting to learn Dutch, but everyone speaks English very well.
Yeah I deleted it accidentally, that is a nice place to live in. I might move to Europe some day in the future.
I think I recently saw that students in Norway do not pay for college at all, not even if you come there from another country…
Beautiful post Arturo, unfortunately I have never heard of such scholarships, at least not here in Europe, but I really hope you'll find funds to accomplish these goals which sound truly amazing, especially jazz in Paris :-) Maybe you could also try philanthropic organisations.... Anyway, I wish you nothing but success and happiness and please keep us posted!
Good point, Dana, and the same is now true in Germany. No tuition fees at any university.
Dana DeLorenzo said:
I think I recently saw that students in Norway do not pay for college at all, not even if you come there from another country...
I hope there is one, actually! My son, now 15, survived an unruptured aneurysm 4 1/2 years ago, but hopes to be able to attend college someday himself!
Here is a resource that may be helpful:
http://www.onlinecolleges.net/for-students/chronic-health-issues/
I think a lot of possible scholarships are school-specific, and contacting the financial aid departments of the schools you son may be interested in is a good start.
I am not aware of any, at least not in Canada where I live. Although they do have something for disabilitiy scholarships. Here I don't think it is specific to any one kind of disability. A neuropsycho-educational assessment would need to be done, and if you have one, they would need a copy of it. I think the best help for resources for this would be at the university you are intended to attend at their disabilities office. The disability department would be able to inform you of all the options.
Miranda is right. Check with your school's Financial Aid and Disability offices. They should have information on where you could look. By the way, congratulations on continuing with your education and plans to study abroad.
All right not trying to hijack but please tell me about Jazz in Paris????
In the meantime if you have not registered here: http://www.aifsabroad.com/landing/index.asp?lsid=LB2SJ0087631
Do so. Its a great starting point and good luck
From what I have read so far about this program is that it digs into how the jazz movement was oppressed in the United States due to the racial inequalities of the time so it made its way to Europe. Paris was a sort of launching point for this jazz movement so we will be studying first hand the events that made this movement possible and what in Paris helped it flourish. Thank you for the link, I will make sure to look into it.
tj1 said:
All right not trying to hijack but please tell me about Jazz in Paris????
In the meantime if you have not registered here: http://www.aifsabroad.com/landing/index.asp?lsid=LB2SJ0087631
Do so. Its a great starting point and good luck
Cool. I have heard some amazing Jazz in Paris, but I'm not a huge Jazz fan in that I have studied it like the other forms of music I like. So I was surprised when I came across it. Your post sparked some great memories, Guess I have some reading to dp
Bravo Arturo! I have a rupture and clip and clamp 11 years ago, they told me I would never be 100%. I told them 99% was fine, they said no, I said watch me! I graduated last year Cum Laude. Invited all the Doctors that said no, and said as I crossed the stage. " I told you so!!!!" I went on Pell grants, as well as Texas State education funds. I am now going after my second degree! And you are right about the education, I think that education has been the best therapy for me, I suffer with the short term memory and memory recall but it is getting better. Did you try going to the hospital and talking to the social worker, or your church? Good luck and please keep us informed!