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Hi! My name is Riya Mohan and I come from New Delhi, India. Recently, I have been offered a place for MSc International Relations of the Americas at University College London (UCL), a university that ranks 1st in London, 4th in the UK and 8th in the world and I am really looking forward to it.
However, currently, I am faced with a challenge that is funding. Although I have been working overtime due to which I have managed to collect some funds, I am still facing a shortage in terms of monetary assistance. Since I do not have any collateral to offer, I stand ineligible for an education loan of 20 lakhs. Moreover, repaying such a huge amount is very difficult for my family. Therefore, I am using this fundraising campaign to finance my postgraduate study in the UK, for which I require your help.
"I want to reiterate that this is voluntary. Only those who want to and who really have the means to contribute, I request them to do so."
Breakup of the Funds Required
As mentioned in my offer of admission, the tuition fee amounts to £25,800 (Pounds), equivalent to INR 26,63,622 (Indian Rupees). The breakup of other expenses is as follows:
UK Visa Cost: £348 (INR 35,927)
Living Expenses: £12007 (INR 12,39,617)
Airfare (One Way): £195 (INR 20,132)
International Health Surcharge: £705 (INR 72,785)
GRAND TOTAL: £39,055 (40,32,085) i.e. approximately 40 Lakhs.
Through this campaign, I am only looking for 20 lakhs as the rest of the amount I have managed to secure. For any clarifications regarding the breakup of the funds, feel free to get in touch with me. I’d be happy to answer any questions that you have.
Introduction
I have recently graduated in English from Lady Shri Ram College for Women, University of Delhi. Since March 2018, I have also been pursuing the Spanish Language from Instituto Cervantes and currently, I have completed my C1.2 level after 3 years of extensive commitment. My interest in Latin America and the Caribbean has been cultivating for a very long time and the Spanish Language program has only multiplied it manifold, allowing me to read about the region’s policies and development interventions in one more language.
I tend to write articles and poems in English and Spanish both. Recently, I was awarded the second prize for the poem Si las Aves Migratorias Fueran Inmigrantes Humanos (If Migratory Birds Were Human Immigrants) in Concurso de Microrrelatos y Poesía (2021 poetry writing competition) conducted by Instituto Cervantes, Embassy of Spain. I have also worked as a Spanish Language Editor for LSR College Magazine to which I have contributed my works ‘En Verso’ (In Verse) and ‘El Fantasma Silencioso’ (The Silent Ghost).
My interest in gender and politics has pushed me to write an essay on ‘The Abortion Law in India’, and some other literary papers and articles. Recent webinars on collaborative governance, urban spaces & gender accessibility have further made me interested in the gendered discourse of International Relations. At UCL, I am looking forward to involving myself with academia once again but due to lack of funding, it only seems a distant dream right now.
Why International Relations of the Americas and UCL?
A postgraduate study in International Relations of the Americas is an ideal program for me since it combines my competency in the Spanish Language with my interest in International Relations. The IR program offered by UCL interests me a lot as it brings the otherwise neglected multi-ethnic Latin American region into the nexus of international politics. Moreover, it blends international affairs with social science and, since it is offered by the Department of Social and Historical Sciences, it will allow me to comprehend global issues through a social science perspective, rather than from a purely political dimension.
Moreover, I am specifically inclined towards the electives ‘Gender, Politics and Public Policy in Latin America’, and the ‘Latin American City: Social Problems and Social Change in Urban Space’. With respect to the latter, I have published an analysis titled ‘From Trauma to Transformation: Reading Medellin’s Social Urbanism Strategy’ which talks about a policy intervention called social urbanism that transformed the social and educational fabric of the city of Medellin in Colombia.
I want to explore the global issues that foreign policymakers are facing in the nation-states of the Americas, and for this, I am reaching out to you all.
Any contribution would be of great help to me and in case you are unable to do so, I would request you to kindly spread this campaign across your networks. In case you have any queries, please feel free to write to me at: riyamhn002@gmail.com as I’d be happy to provide any clarifications before you want to make a contribution.
