Dear Friends,

I currently attend City College of San Francisco. As you know, the life of a college student is often contingent on how much money he or she has. I am practically dependent on financial aid and whatever money that I can get from my parents. Since I returned to CCSF in 2007 and began going on financial aid, I have barely functioned without it. Not only do I use my money to pay for school, but it goes towards various twentysomething necessities, from my cell phone to my laptop.

I am a full-time student. School is, for now, my life. I have sought work and will continue to seek work, but I am strongly committed to my education. My goal is to get a BA and/or a MFA in creative writing. I have already been accepted for fall 2009 at San Francisco State University, which has one of the country's best programs.

This past week, I found out that my financial aid check has been withheld because I have gone over the maximum units, which in this case, is 90. These include the units that I took en route to getting my AA at CCSF in 2004, even though I was not on financial aid at that time. The only way that I can get that check is by appealing my disqualification. When I heard this, I was so ashamed and embarrassed. I didn't even tell my family. I'm actually scared of telling them. When I first went to CCSF, I was taking 12 units a semester. Full-time status is 9 units or better at CCSF, but I had to get 12 to continue getting health insurance from my mother's workplace. Had I realized it then, I probably would not have taken so many courses. But I didn't know that at the time. I was trying to feel my way through that new chapter of my life. I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Making matters worse is that, as of this date, I have an overdraft of $600 in my checking account. Most of that comes from overdraft fees, and I haven't really used my card since before Christmas. Each semester, I get over $2000 in grants and loans. When you think about it, it's not really much. Admittedly, I've never been good at managing my money. I don't blow my financial aid on frivolous and expensive crap, but I know that I can do better. I'm considering cancelling my health insurance and cell phone as a result. I pay over $90 total a month for health insurance and over $50 a month for my cell phone (which I only have for the sake of having a cell phone), and with rates going up, I can't take it anymore.

I have come to the realization that financial aid is not going to be enough. There are days when I can't pay for essential school supplies. There are days when looking at prices makes me cry. I feel guilty often asking my parents, my older brother, or other relatives for $20 just to get through the week. I'm probably feeling guilty right now asking you guys for help, because I know that there are people who have it worse off. My financial aid check is not gone forever, as I can get it back. But at this moment in time, I don't know what else to do.

I am asking for one-time contributions of at least $5. I know that people are having trouble making ends meet, but $5 is not that much. If you can contribute more, then by all means, do so. I'm using the rich networks that I've built up on Facebook and MySpace (as well as this blog) to solicit contributions. All told, I have over 200 distinct friends on all the social networking sites that I am a member of. 200 people * $5 = $1000. I don't expect to get that much, but who knows? I heard of one guy my age who sold ad space on his website for $1 per pixel (or something), and he made over a million dollars. Perhaps that's a false analogy, but that will suffice at this hour.

My PayPal account name is my e-mail: alexsarmiento@hotmail.com.