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With college starting back up, there are a number of things that new students need to be concerned with. For Nayya Martinique, who headed to Atlanta from Indianapolis to attend Spelman College, there was an unexpected surprise that nearly caused panic. Martinique was at risk of losing her college housing because she was $4,000 short after federal loans didn’t cover the full cost as expected.
That led to some quick thinking from her mother, TJai Downs, who was denied a federal Parent Plus loan because of her own unpaid student loan. Downs had to take out a loan to get through graduate school after using all available financial aid through the GI Bill.
That led to Downs turning to Plan B: GoFundMe.
Her mother wrote:
Nayya has worked soooooo hard academically–she really has! While we have completed so much paperwork and met deadlines for financial aid, we have run into an unexpected financial situation connected to my personal graduate loans from the University of Louisville. We traveled from Indy to Atlanta, packed up two vehicles and spent hundreds on making this transition happen only to be stopped at the Financial Aid office and told we cannot move in until $4000.00 is paid. Can you please, please consider giving anything you have. We have until Thursday, so if there’s something you can help Nayya/me with, I’d greatly appreciate it.
To date, the GoFundMe account has raised more than $7,700, surpassing the goal of $4,000.
One woman reached out directly to Spelman College, according to the Washington Post, and gave the school $4,000 so Martinique could be cleared to move in.
Let this be a story that shows no matter what obstacles you may be facing, if you are not afraid to ask for help, you may get exactly what you are in need of.
