Reaching Out

It's time for another update!

In the past few weeks I have been spending time working in  my university dining hall and - of course- being very studious. Unfortunately, this also means that I have been devoting less time to my fundraising campaign. Luckily my mother has been hard at work on the home front, planning a friends and family yard sale for the second weekend in February. 

If you're an Arizona reader who would like to know more about her efforts, you can contact my mother through email at this address: kgoldrush@aol.com 

For my part, I will be looking into a few more potential business sponsors and getting in touch with other people in Colorado whom will be going to Cambodia this May as well. 

So, currently we have raised $1,700 dollars towards my tuition for Cambodia. 

The remaining cost for EDventure is now $900, the final payment for which must be deposited by March 5th. 

After that, it's only about another $1,600 to $2,000 dollars for traveler's insurance and flight.

I finally set up the link to my gogetfunding page, so now donating to my trip can be as simple as clicking the link!

All of the help that I have received so far has been absolutely amazing, but I am still looking for a few more sponsors, so if you know someone, or perhaps a few people who would be willing to help out, please do not hesitate to pass on the knowledge of this blog. 

Feel free to email me anytime at: mikaylapreston@gmail.com 

Thank you, and stay tuned for more updates soon. 

Getting Closer!

I have some exciting news!

   With the help of family and friends who attended my recent Casino Night Fundraiser, I have earned another $300 toward my EDventure Tuition! We are getting closer and closer to fully funding this trip, and I can not be more excited and grateful to everyone who has helped me get this far.

Something else that I recently started was an account on the site gogetfunding.com, which will provide an easier way for sponsors to donate money, in which the money will be deposited directly to my paypal account without sponsors needing to set up an account of their own through paypal.

I am also starting back to school this week, and am officially a 2nd semester freshman. So far all of my classes have been going well, and hopefully will continue to do so as we get further into the semester and closer to my departure date for this Cambodian adventure!!

While I try to get a link set up in the side bar, I will also post a link to my gogetfunding page in this post for convenience.

http://gogetfunding.com/project/cambodia-edventure

New Year, Same Tricks

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

I hope that you have been enjoying the holiday season with friends and family. I know I am very grateful that I have been surrounded by loved ones for the last few weeks. I have some very exciting news to share today.

Firstly, thanks to a very generous donation from Mr. Michael Wada and NKK Switches, I am one step closer to reaching my goal for EDventure.

Secondly, my paypal account has been officially linked from this blog, so now donating is easier than ever! This means that if you would like to become a sponsor, all you have t do is click the "Donate" button located on the right side of the blog.

Now to break down the final costs:

EDventure Tuition: $1,600
Traveler's Insurance: $200
Flight: about $1,300 (subject to change)

All in all, thanks to the support of all of my readers, friends, family, and others it looks like my dreams of spending time in Cambodia enriching lives- including my own- are moving ever closer.

Happy Holidays!!

Hello Everyone,

    As this year winds down, it is the perfect time to reflect on what we have and what we are able to do with the help of family, friends, and neighbors. I know I have been given so many opportunities to make my mark in the world (especially with this trip to Cambodia), and they have all come to me one way or another through one of the three means above.

    So, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped me in my journey thus far- yes you, the anonymous reader, too. I hope you all have a joyous and love-filled holiday season, and continue to make a difference in others lives.

   In other news, I will have a paypal account linked from this blog soon, so if you wish to become a sponsor, but only have a few dollars to give, you can do so. Hopefully this will reach out to those who feel they cannot make a large contribution but still wish to help out in some way.

Again, happy holidays and best wishes.

~Mikayla

Some Motivation

Wow, where did the time go? It's been quite a while since I last posted anything, and for that I apologize. I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far, and continues to do so in the upcoming month.

 As for myself, I've spent this week preparing for finals and next week I will be resisting pulling my hair out while actually taking them. But on the bright side, after next week I will officially have completed my 1st semester of college!!

So, while we all enjoy spending time with our loved ones this season, I want to give myself and everyone who has helped me get this far along on my journey to Cambodia a reminder of the power of social support and motivation. I hear it will get you everywhere.

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is  always to try just one more time" (Thomas A. Edison).

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream" (C.S. Lewis).

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence" (Helen Keller).

"I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than attempt to do nothing and succeed" (Robert H. Schuller).

"Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door" (Kyle Chandler).

And my favorite:
"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals" (Henry David Thoreau).

Please have a fun and safe holiday season everyone!

Great News!!

A Great Big Hello!

In the last few days, I have received some amazing news from various people. On Tuesday I was informed that it would snow here in Greeley, Colorado where I am currently living, and snow it did! I just spent about an hour looking like an out-of-state-kid while having a snowball fight in the field by my dorm. It was awesome! 

On another, more Cambodia-related note, throughout this past week I've gotten several emails from various people who've been so gracious as to become sponsors. This is due, in no small part to my mother, who has been doing as much, if not perhaps more advertising for my trip than even I have. So, thank you mom for your tireless efforts, and thank you also to the following people for committing to being sponsors:

Ms Marie Ferry 

Mr. Doug King

Mr. Michael Wada, Ms Shoko Imai, and NKK Switches 

Keep checking back for more updates to come soon! 

Updates

It's been a while since I last posted anything, so how about an update?

• I have a spot reserved to go to Cambodia from May 9, 2014- May 31, 2014!!                                           
• The current balance I have to pay before getting there is: $4,600                                                            It's broken down like this: $2,600 EDventure Tuition, ~$1,800 flight, $200 traveler's insurance                  
• JOB. As in, I have one! Now part of my paycheck each month is going to help pay for this trip!                                                                                                                                                             
• I'm working on some fundraising ideas (all of which are still in the works)                                                       Here are a few:                                                                                                                                  Casino Night (with awesome prizes)                                                                                                  Cookies for Kids - aka an amazing bake sale                                                                                      Some sort of Sports Tournament with a pay-to-play policy as well as mandatory costumes- Superhero Basketball?                                                                                                                                Dancing for Dollars- no, it's not anything inappropriate, but it is guaranteed to be hilarious.                  "Egg and Beg"                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     So, this is what I am currently working on. More details while be posted soon- as soon as I have them.  Thanks so much for your continued interest!