Hello, I am Mrunali Waghmare. I recently got selected into Huron at Western in Ontario, Canada. I am going to major in Psychology and minor in Economics with a liberal arts education.

Before I ask you for a favor, let me tell you my story. I was born and brought up in Pune, Maharashtra. I belong to a financially weaker family. In February 2010, my father met with a bus accident because of which he broke his vertebral column and could not work since then. My mother, on the other hand, has heart disease and it is more serious now because she had had a heart attack earlier. Both of their health conditions do not allow them to work. So to make our living, we rented a proportion of our primary home which hardly helps us manage all of our costs since that is the only earning my family has.

Till grade 8th, I was in a government school in Yerwada which operated in partnership with TFI (Teach For India). At TFI, I got exposure to opportunities that helped me learn more about the world and myself. In 2012, I participated in a broadway musical, Maya. In Maya, I was professionally trained in performing arts for 18 months. For the world, we were training for a broadway musical, but for me, Maya started building my foundational values and principles of love and courage. Later, in 2019, I continued to explore theater by playing an acrobat’s role in The Greatest Show on Earth where we used the theme of a circus to portray real-life stories of the struggles of the Indian education system.

After 8th grade, I earned a scholarship that allowed me to study in a Cambridge Board School at Avasara Academy where I completed my 12th with subjects Psychology, Economics, Global Perspectives, and English. At Avasara too, I was exposed to holistic learning. Subjects like Global Perspective, LEI (Leadership Entrepreneurship and Indian studies) Business studies opened up the world to me. I learned to research about and analyze community issues on a global, national and local level. Simultaneously, I started working as a KER (Kids Education Revolution) revolutionary. Kids Educational Revolution is a global movement to reimagine education systems. As a National Committee member at KER, I got the opportunity to build contacts across India which helped me learn more about humans in general and acknowledge differences in people. At KER educational submits, we learned about Equal partnership, Safe spaces, and Student leadership. To act on my learnings, I established a student council at school to build safe spaces for Student Voice, organized a Hug Campaign with educators and student leaders across Pune, and taught children of construction workers near our school so they don’t end up missing out on learning as they migrated States with their parents.

All these experiences build skills of emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and leadership in me.

Now, I am extremely grateful to announce that I got a scholarship of $ 100,000 to study in Canada at a university I wished to study in, ever since I heard of it. The rest of my cost, very generously, is managed by my school Avasara Academy except for my travel cost. I am trying to raise this fund for my travel expenses to Huron along with some starter money that I will need to settle-in in a new country.

Flight Tickets Range - Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 5,500 from Pune to Bangalore.

My flight fare range from Rs. 1,35,000 to Rs. 1,60,000 INR from Bangalore to Toronto.


Please note: This is a tentative amount since the prices keep rising as days pass by. Thus, 20 to 30 thousand rupees are expected to increase when I actually book my flight.

I need an estimation of ($750 to $1000 CAD) Rs.60,300 INR for my starter money. Below is the breakdown of the expected amount.
Breakdown:

• Winter Gear (Boots, winter jacket, gloves, sweater, and a hat) - Rs. 6197.58 to Rs. 18,592.73
• Sim Card + Mobile recharge (for the first 3 months) - Rs. 8,053.45
• Bedroom accessories (1 blanket, 1 pillow, 2 bedsheets) - Rs. 3618.73 to Rs. 7237.45
• Laundry ($2 per wash and $2 per drier - 4 times a month) - Rs. 964.99 x 3 (for first three months) = Rs. 2894.97

This is a summary of my costs and it shows an estimation of the total cost I need to raise:

• Starter Money - Rs. 60,300
• Flight Pune to Bangalore - Rs. 5,300
• Flight Bangalore to Toronto - Rs. 1,60,000
• Total: Rs. 2,25,600

With most of my costs figured out, I am very close to getting into my dream college. Your small contribution will actually help me reach my goal. Please help either by contributing some money or sharing it with people who you know would wish to contribute. 

Thank you. 

PS: Please find attached below my Letter of Acceptance in case you wish to view my offer of admission.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qGODtP04A8gB_VFffBObHaEGtRYfdfsa?usp=sharing