Student Seeks Crowdfunding Help to Pursue a Master's Degree at Harvard University

By Neil Armstrong

Photo contributed       Na’Shantéa Miller has been accepted to Harvard University, London School of Economics, Columbia University and Oxford University 

A Canadian youth of Jamaican heritage has been accepted to Harvard University and has turned to the Black community through crowdfunding to make her studies there a reality.

Na’Shantéa Miller, 24, has been admitted to pursue a Master of Public Policy with a concentration in business and government, starting this fall, and has established a GoFundMe account to help get her there.

She was also accepted to the London School of Economics, Columbia University and Oxford University.

Born in Toronto and raised in Brampton, Miller is a community-minded individual with a passion for creating positive change.

She graduated from the University of Ottawa with a double major in economics and political science in May 2018.

Throughout her undergraduate career, she was highly engaged on and off campus.

Her involvement included being the president and vice-president of philanthropy of the Economics Students Association (ESA) where she established a scholarship program, a member of the delegation to represent the University of Ottawa for the International Day for the Elimination of Racism Canada Lecture, and a Social Science faculty mentor.

As a beneficiary of mentorship, one of Miller’s most profound volunteering experiences has been with the Leadership By Design (LBD) program.

For the past three years, she has been a mentor for LBD, which aims to support black high school students in the Greater Toronto Area in their leadership development. The program was developed as a legacy project to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Jamaica’s Independence in 2012 in the Toronto area.

Her involvement in the Black community, and community at large, has been recognized through various scholarships and awards, such as the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s most involved vice-president of philanthropy award, TD Financial Group scholarship, and Jamaican Ex-Soldiers Association scholarship.

“As a product of mentorship, my story is focused on the important role that teachers and mentors have played in my life,” says Miller.


She says any support that she receives from this fundraising campaign will also be used to pay it forward by dedicating 5% towards scholarships to other students and 5% towards a rural community in Gulu, Uganda that Mama Latigo, her former high school guidance counsellor and mentor, has been supporting for the past seven years.

Through her mentor’s efforts, the Olwiyo Faith School and Orphanage Centre now have latrines, a kitchen, a well, and seven classrooms. The Olwiyo community is now looking for funds to roof the classrooms.

Miller said she was once told that she would not get far with a name like “Na’Shantéa.”

She endured negative comments such as “You’re stupid” from a professor during her undergraduate study professor and “You don’t have what it takes to get into Harvard” by a co-worker.

She was unfazed and their comments were overshadowed by the encouragement that she received from teachers and mentors who reminded her to put everything into perspective.

Her grade 5 teacher, Mr. Pick, told her, “If you keep working as hard as you do, you’re going to go far.”

She was also encouraged by her grade 11 and 12 basketball coaches, Mr. Barrett and Ms. Gibbs, who told her that, “You’re going to be the president of North America/the world. We know that position doesn’t exist yet, but you will.”

Miller said she applied to Harvard to actualize one of her life mottos: “The only thing worse than rejection is not knowing.”

“I didn’t want to wonder “what if,” but instead apply, be rejected, and tell myself that at least I tried. I may sound a bit negative, but who applies to Harvard thinking they will get accepted? Definitely not me,” she writes on her GoFundMe page.

She got accepted to the Harvard Kennedy School, a graduate school that focuses on service and community -- which aligns with her mission to create positive change.

“With this degree, I want to draft public policies that incentivize more meaningful corporate citizenship initiatives as sustainable solutions to social problems because I believe in the positive power of business. Businesses have the financial power to make a massive difference in the world so I want to transform the common narrative of businesses causing social problems to proactively combating them,” says Miller.

The total cost of Harvard tuition and housing expenses is $84,670 USD per year for two years, which is the equivalent of $113,106.42 CAD per year.

She applied to financial aid at Harvard hoping to receive some help but did not because of limited funding.

“The reality is that the sum of my personal and parental savings of $37,281.34 CAD is not nearly enough to cover these expenses. However, in order to secure my U.S. student visa to attend Harvard, I need to provide evidence of $75,824.66 CAD (first year tuition) by June 15, 2019. I was almost going to turn down my offer, but I was reminded that if I don’t put myself out there and ask for help I won’t know what will happen. After all, the only thing worse than rejection is not knowing,” says Miller.

Her story can be read at <https://www.gofundme.com/NaShanteaMiller>. 

[This story has been published in the North American Weekly Gleaner, May 23-29, 2019.]