Why I Want to go to London

Good evening, everyone. Yesterday morning I received the good news that I was accepted into the London Study Abroad program with the University of Tennessee's School of Information Sciences. This remained wonderful news until I saw that the two week trip would cost roughly $8,000. Yep. That's an eight and THREE zeroes.

For those of you who don't know, I have been working at Sesame Workshop for the last five years. Sesame Workshop is the non-profit educational organization behind Sesame Street and so much more. I love what I do. Giving back to the community, and helping children all over the world learn to read, write, and grow, is an amazing feeling. In addition to editing Elmo books, I also donate hundreds of books every month to underprivileged schools, community centers, day cares, hospitals and more.

I love the feeling of helping others so much, that it is a major part of my leisure time as well. As I am sure a lot of you know, I am an active member in the Harry Potter fandom. As a part of this global group, I have built houses in New Orleans with Habitat for Humanity, raised money for Darfur, gay rights, animal shelters, and most recently helped raise more than $100,000 for hurricane relief in Haiti.

Now, I understand that I have a roof over my head, and three meals a day, and a steady job. I do not need money. However, if I want to continue my education, and get one step closer to being a card carrying librarian, I do need help. I am trying to raise $8,000 which will pay for tuition, the program fee, airfare, and room and board.

I am not suggesting you just send me your money. I don't want this to be a charity. What I am suggesting, is that you think of me if you have some extra cash to spend on T-shirts, CDs, (Madam Pince and the Librarians) or jewelry. If owning more stuff is not your thing, I am also experienced as a freelance copyeditor and proofreader. If you need anything edited from TV scripts, to cover letters, to resumes, to business reports, let me know.

The purpose of this blog is to give you updates on everything that I am doing to reach my goal (like cooking more often, and putting that money into my savings account, instead of into restaurants). I am also open to other suggestions for fund raising, but I repeat, this is not a charity. I want to earn this, and make sure you're getting something in return.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you.