Greetings to whomever reads this,

My name is Samuel Johnson and I am a Marine Corp veteran of two deployments that supported combat operations during OEF. I am also an Illinois resident, and I am currently trying to raise any amount of money I can to finish a Master's Degree in Special Education. I have already taken out 6 figures worth of loans to get this far, have run through my GI Bill, and it is still not enough to finish this one. I cannot afford to take out any more loans because of the massive debt I have already accrued to date. Most of this loan money was taken out while in school during COVID. During this time I was let go from working full time in Florida, and never received any pay for being unemployed for an extensive amount of time. My GI Bill also ran out during this time. The bill for the first degree totaled more than 180,000$ to give a picture. I am out of options in terms of qualifying for scholarships, because I have tried, but have continuously been passed over for meritorious scholarships, despite maintaining a 4.0 GPA. I cannot take out additional loans, so I am turning to the public for any amount of help that can get me across the finish line.

I am set to graduate in March of 2026, but will owe almost 5,000$, plus an additional 8,000$ that has added up for my studies already. If I can reach my goal of at least 10,000$, this would give me more than enough money to cover the remaining classes, and pay off the other loan that I most recently took out. I am not asking for a paid in full loan forgiveness, even though I know, at this point, I will be paying off loans until I retire from education. Ultimately, this degree will allow me to become a licensed professional that works with students with disabilities. I am willing to cover any additional questions one might have if needed.