Sam Garcia is 19 and is an academically gifted deaf student from Brazil. He was born deaf and has no hearing in one ear and limited hearing in the other. Sam currently lives in Greenwich in SE London with his parents.
Sam has an offer to study Biomedical Science at the University of Westminster but, unfortunately, he can’t currently take up his place because he doesn’t have the correct visa to access a student loan to cover his fees and to fund a note taker.
To help raise the funds to cover the cost of his university placement, Sam’s teacher (at Shooters Hill Campus in SE London) Tony Pike has started a GoFundMe page with a target of 15k. They’ve already raised around £1500.
Tony said:
“Sam is a highly talented Scientist and has earned the right to study at university to fulfil his dreams.
“Sam left Brazil to come to the UK 10 years ago and has been studying BTEC Applied Science for the past 3 years at Shooters Hill Post 16 Campus, in Woolwich, South East London. In the history of the Campus, no other deaf student has managed to secure a place at university to study science. So we would all, very much, like to help Sam to be the first!”
Sam said:
“When I was a child I used to be really curious about everything. I kept asking so many questions about why things happen and that really started my interest in Science. I have worked so hard to reach this point that I’m gutted to think I won’t be able to take up the place I have earnt. I would be so grateful if anyone out there is able to help.”
The funds Sam needs will cover the following:
– University tuition fees (Overseas rate) £12k per year
– Additional funds in place of Disabled Student Allowance
– Cost of a note taker to assist Sam in his studies
Dr Terry Riley OBE, Chair of the British Deaf Association said:
“We wish Sam all the very best in securing a place at university to study Science. Deaf children have the same aspirations as their hearing peers, they can and should aim for the sky. The only difference is they cannot hear. We now have deaf Doctors, PHD’s, CEO’s and business entrepreneurs. One of our key goals at the BDA is to ensure that the younger Deaf generation cultivate similar opportunities to hearing students.”
To donate to the ‘Help us send Sam to Uni’ GoFundMe page, please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/
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Emma
October 9, 2015
As a deaf student studying Biological Science (with Molecular Biochemistry and Genetics) at Kingston, I fully appreciate just how hard a science course is at university! Having said that, there is no way I could ever access the course without my notetaker and all the other support methods I need. My faculty have been nothing short of fantastic and I have to thank them for making all of this as painless as possible. One lecturer even made a transcript of a video detailing a technique in her own free time when there were no captions available.
I just hope Westminster makes his experience as wonderful as mine has been. Good luck Sam!
Alistair
October 9, 2015
If an overseas student can fund his or her tuition fees, the University should provide the funding for the support.
Hartmut
October 10, 2015
There is no intergovernmental agreement between U.K. and Brazil in the event of a deaf Brazilian studying in the U.K., because he cannot do the same in his home country.
There are no agreements between the U.S. government and many other governments regarding the students from these countries to study at Gallaudet University. Gallaudet assumed mostly the tuition for the students coming outside U.S.
The support of a notetaker is insufficient, but most probably still the best for this Brazilian guy. Had he known LIBRAS, the name of the Brazilian sign language, he could easily learn BSL in six months and utilize an English/BSL interpreter to partake in much of the face-to-face discussions that provides him extra insights on certain points presented by the professor.
The university should have sent bills to the Brazilian government for the costs to educate a Brazilian citizen that this country failed to provide.