HELP FUND MY TUITION
As of August 29th, we have reached our goal of $3,000 and have submitted the tuition deposit.
On August 1st, 2023, I’ve submitted my acceptance to the
Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management Diploma Program
at the York Entrepreneurship Development Institute.
By August 31st, I must submit my tuition deposit of $3000.00 CAD.
I have less than 30 days to make this possible.
My Story
When I was 14, my friends and I had ideas to create our sneaker review YouTube channel. This idea evolved into what is now known as the Toronto-based clothing brand, CONNECT Collective. Throughout my high school years, I’ve been able to collaborate and explore locally with various artists, friends, and family.
Nine years since the embarkment of CONNECT Collective, the heart in bringing others together has grown throughout my career in my hometown's music and media industry. From photography, videography, graphic design, management, and all you can find on this page, I can confidently say the range in my portfolio was only made possible through my ability to adapt and transfer my hard-earned skills, through my passion for art and community, and my core values. My love, care, and efforts are not only put towards my own projects but shared with my community and my collaborators.
After graduating high school, I entered my first semester at York University’s Business and Society program. I left shortly after because I realized the program was not well-suited in the direction CONNECT was working towards and did not align with the intended scale of the business.
In 2020, I attended Humber College for their Media Communications program however the classes were remote as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The circumstances during that time of juggling between having a part-time job and full-time studies severely tarnished my mental and financial well-being. This coupled with having to live on my own and provide for myself at 19.
Now, at 23, I continue to work at my part-time job and maintain various positions that contribute to my career. As a small business owner in the creative field, currently building a pathway to a sustainable full-time media production company, I uphold strong values in sharing resources and opportunities through my commitment to developing youth and community on a local and global scale.
Throughout 2018 to 2022, after setting the groundworks through several freelance projects, I purposely shared with other industry creatives and emerging artists OTR Media Productions was founded. The mission for OTR Media Productions, also known as OTR, OTR Everything, was to foster collaboration between experienced and upcoming creatives, share resources, and create resources for youth in my local community with the intention to scale globally.
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My Answer: “OTR Media Productions is an expansion [freelancing opportunities that have been shared to me] as a creative freelancer, fostering an in-house creative team to collaborate and share opportunities. In gathering the collective of artists and professionals ranging from photographers to graphic designers to marketing specialists, I developed the entire framework and online infrastructure including onboarding sessions, mentorship, and project management through Google Workspace. This collective of professionals was composed of individuals who I knew personally, in which each person and I saw future prospects in working together. Through team building, each month we would have a monthly meeting where we would update the team with our projects and achievements, developing seamless connections in collaborating on future projects.
The values and skills that OTR Media Productions offer were clearly highlighted through the Co-operative Education Program with a student from the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) in 2022. One of my main goals is being able to share opportunities and resources for others to be able to follow their passion with a realistic and sustainable plan. By the end of the program, the student was able to see a future in their specialized field of digital animation, and will be pursuing a post-secondary program to further their career path.”text goes here
I believe that the Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Diploma Program at the York Entrepreneurship Development Institute will be able to give me the professional mentorship I need in taking the next steps to grow the businesses I've created and be able to apply and share knowledge that will be utilized in my ventures and by extension my community.
Currently, OTR and CONNECT have been set aside due to the inability to focus on developing stronger business plans while sustaining part-time employment opportunities that sustain living costs for myself and a family member. I find myself in a position where going back to a traditional full-time program is difficult as I am not comfortable leaving my job to solely be dependent on my province’s student loans to cover living expenses for the two of us, whom I cannot claim as a dependent under my name. I have found success in my ventures, but due to financial and personal circumstances, putting these ventures aside has sustained my job security and personal commitments. Alternative financial options, such as taking a personal loan would put me in a difficult situation due to my current financial standings. Since York Entrepreneurial Development Institute is a private college, it is currently not an eligible school under the Ontario Student Assistance Program (student grants and loans). The Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management Diploma Program is a part-time program, allowing me to continue working..
I am seeking full-time employment better aligned with working in creative, community, and youth environments that match my current salary and benefits to further invest in developing my career.
During this time, without any currently confirmed leads, I have developed various creative solutions to cover my tuition costs and other related expenses such as maintaining this website.
I am committed to completing my first post-secondary diploma and sustaining a 95% average.
Tees for Tuition
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Tees for Tuition ⋆
Donate on GoFundMe
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Donate on GoFundMe ⋆
Book with Me
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Book with Me ⋆
4x6 Print + Frame
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4x6 Print + Frame ⋆
Other Ideas
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Other Ideas ⋆
Current Standings
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Current Standings ⋆
All amounts are presented in Canadian Dollars.
Received:
$3000.00
Remaining to goal:
$0.00
What happens after?
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This would be my first post-secondary academic achievement. I find myself answering the question about if I’m still in school, and besides all my achievements in my career, I want to be able to prove to myself that I can complete a post-secondary credential.
Not only will it give me the confidence with new found knowledge and experience, but will also bring more confidence to future clients and a certification to celebrate with mmy community.
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As the York Entrepreneurial Development Institute states in their Scholarship Schedule:
“As a Canadian charity, we are happy to inform you that we have raised enough funds to provide a scholarship to cover the tuition fee, contingent on a minimum average of 80% academic standing. We will be reviewing each eligible student’s academic standing at the end of each semester. Should you fail to maintain the minimum average, you will be responsible for paying the tuition fee for that academic semester.”
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The reimbursement will go directly to purchasing a new laptop. As standard in the creative field, and in my current experience using an Asus Zenbook 14" UX463FA (8GB RAM, Intel® UHD Graphics 620, Display: FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 aspect ratio, IPS-level Panel, LED Backlit, 60Hz refresh rate, 300nits, 100% sRGB color gamut, Glossy display). This laptop cannot currently run Adobe Creative Suite Programs at an effective rate (often lags and crashes the program. It sometimes crashes while editing my website as well (Squarespace).
I have been eyeing the MacBook Pro 14” (Apple M2 Pro with 10‑core CPU, 16‑core GPU and 16‑core Neural Engine, 16GB unified memory, Liquid Retina XDR display). The capabilities to run design programs and the display for editing and running programs in my field.
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I am looking to meet new professionals through the networks who I would possibly see collaborating with, joining my businesses, or becoming business partners in existing and future ventures.
Since YEDI is international, meeting like-minded individuals will also benefit my ability to bring Toronto businesses outside of Canada, and help grow other businesses by sharing my network in Toronto with those relationships as well.
I aim to expand my business internationally and travel for my business in my pursuit to work with various communities abroad, which would be the first time I would consider traveling outside of the country for myself and for my businesses.
By the end of the program, I would be able to gain new skills, connections, and a new approach to business. It would be a milestone to successfully officially complete a post-secondary diploma with an average of +95%, which would be the first time I would be professionally trained as throughout my entire career, I have been self-taught.