A single mother with two children in college has issued a desperate plea for financial support to help her acquire a Master’s Degree and support her children through university.The 40-year-old Sandys Parish woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said both she and her daughter applied for more than 50 scholarships locally to support their further education dreams, but all to no avail.A primary schoolteacher by trade, she left Bermuda last year to pursue a Master’s Degree in Art Therapy in the UK. This semester marks the start of her final year, and ultimately she hopes to return to the Island to work with children who are victims of violence and broken homes.Her 19-year-old daughter is a sophomore studying Animal Behaviour, Welfare and Management, while her son, who is 17, will begin a Culinary Arts Degree in September.Discouraged and depressed by the stack of rejection letters she has received from scholarship organisations, she called for a shift in the criteria that governs them, and said that the economic status of applicants should play a greater role in the decision making process.“I’m appealing to the spirit of human kindness, we desperately need help,” she said. “If there’s anyone who can help me I’m asking because I’m the one who is supporting everyone else.“I need to finish out this last year to come back to work to help my children further their education. I’ve used up all my savings, it’s gone and I desperately need to finish this,” she said.All three family members returned for the summer to earn as much as they can before September, but with work scarce, she said saving enough had been next to impossible.“On top of it all I had to look in the newspaper to find out that I didn’t get any awards,” she said. “I’m not even getting feedback or communication from a lot of these scholarship boards.“It’s more than heart wrenching, it’s discouraging, and then you have your own kind who degrade you for what you want to do.“People will be quick to say ‘why don’t you just come back home to work for the money’. They don’t understand the amount of work and sacrifice to get this far.”The 40-year-old is hoping that someone who knows what it means to chase a dream will step in to help, so that she can give back to her family and the community at large.“I’m appealing to someone out there who knows what it’s like to struggle to fulfil a dream,” she said. “I’m asking them to consider me, and my family, especially if they know what it’s like to give up on a dream because of money.”Still, she acknowledges that she’s asking a lot in these tough economic times, especially as she needs to support not only herself, but her children as well.“I’m not looking for a million dollars, But with three sets of tuition, living expenses and books that’s got to be at least $100,000,” she said. “Even with all three of us working we have nowhere near that amount.“But if I can just get through this final year I can return to teach children again and get my children through college, All I’m asking for is a chance to finish what I set out to do. I haven’t shed tears for a while only because I’m holding on to faith.”* If you’d like to help, or for more information e-mail artsbda@gmail.com.