Musaab Balchi; College Fundraising Campaign

Friends,

It has been a year since my last update, and I made sure to come back with good updates! Thanks to your generosity, I was able to graduate this semester from George Mason University with MA in the Middle East and Islamic Studies. I also received an Outstanding Commitment Award from the program for my performance inside and outside the classroom. I was delighted by the recognition from the program faculty on my performance.
The graduation ceremony was memorable, knowing that my family in Syria was watching me through live streaming and as it was the first graduation ceremony of mine I have attended. I want to thank you again for responding to my appeal and contributing to my fundraising campaign. I will make sure to return your favor by paying it forward to other meaningful causes in the coming period.

Friends,
This is the first update for my tuition campaign since the beginning of fall academic semester. Thanks for your support, I managed to complete one of my last two classes towards finishing my studies. The course I took was Islam and Politics, taught by Dr. Peter Mandaville and I received a B+. The class was an excellent addition to the knowledge I have accumulated throughout my degree. The class focused on Islamic movements, mainly in middle eastern states. The class helped me reflect my firsthand experience in Syria before and after the uprising. For the final paper of the class, I wrote a 20-page research paper on the Islamic revivalism and social division in Syria in light of the regime's economic policies. In the end, I was able to come up with an excellent research question after discussing it with several professors, and I plan to develop it into a thesis project.
Recently, I was awarded a $1,000 scholarship from Books Not Bombs organization to put towards the tuition for the final class. Thankfully, Books Not Bombs organization also helped me to spread the crowdfunding campaign through its mailing list. That brought great attention to the campaign which translated to many small contributions from around the world. That brought the total amount raised to $6,845. I want to thank the 99 people that decided to contribute to my educational journey, as well as to the many who engaged in any way. I highly appreciate your support and generosity.
Regarding the next and final class, I am short $2,245 with 28 days left until the registration deadline for the spring semester. However, I am still confident that I will be able to reach my final goal. Please support my mission through donating and sharing it with your friends and on social media.
Thanks,

Musaab

Hello Everybody,

I am very thankful for everybody who interacted and donated to my fundraising campaign. I am proud of each donation I received, especially from those I have not met. I hope to meet your expectation. Because of your support I was able to register for one class this semester. Today, I officially registered for Political Islam class taught by Peter Mandeville, one of the smartest minds in the field. That being said, I will not be able to finish the master’s this semester, however, I am hopping that is going to be possible in the Spring semester. In the meantime, I will put more emphasis on finding a full-time job in the Washington DC area, as my studying and working situations are going to be more flexible in the next months.
As I am still unable, based on my current circumstances, to fund my last class in the next semester, I am going to change the campaign end date to 01/15/2018, which is estimated to be the deadline of class registration for the Spring 2018 classes.

Best,

Musaab