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Elizabeth

May 5, 2020

A small contribution might not seem like it makes a difference, but for folks like me who are out of work, but don’t qualify for benefits such as SNAP or unemployment, this means I get to keep the lights on and have my belly full. Thank you for the generous gift, which has meant a lot to me in this time of need.

I am lucky to have a place to live right now, but like so many other students I am trying to keep healthy and positive in these trying times. With the help of the money I was awarded, $150, I am able to skim by this month’s bills and buy groceries for another week.

I recently started at UH Mānoa as a second bachelor’s student majoring in Chinese language and literature (through the Chinese Flagship program), as well as computer science. I received a BA in economics back in 2015, and had been working as a brand manager at Elizabeth Mott for four years. Since I decided to go back to school I had quit my job back in November of 2019, and have been searching for other areas of employment since then.

I was in New York until mid-December 2019, and by the time I got settled in I realized school had started and that it wasn’t physically possible for me to dedicate as much time into job searching. Then when COVID-19 became a full blown pandemic, it was nearly impossible for someone like me to find a job due to the massive flux of unemployment.

I’m confident I will be able to find a job once things start getting more or less normal. For now, I plan to take Chinese and math classes in the summer, if all my scholarships come, and continue classes toward my degree in fall.

My biggest career goal is to start my own business in tech consulting that bridges small businesses with Chinese technology companies. Since this is something that can be done digitally, I would love to have my home office in Hawai‘i. Also I feel like this would be amazing since I could hire UH graduates or have UH students as interns as the business grows.

Elizabeth


If you would like to learn how you can support UH students and programs like this, please contact us at 808 376-7800 or send us a message.