From Stratford to Havard: Let’s send Isaiah there

A UCL undergraduate, originally from Stratford, has launched a crowd funding campaign to help him raise enough money to spend a year studying at Harvard.

Isaiah Wellington-Lynn, of African-Caribbean descent, has been offered a place on Harvard’s prestigious Visiting Undergraduate Student Class of 2018 programme. However, the source of funding that he was relying on has now unfortunately fallen through, meaning that he has to try to raise £64,000 by June 8th.

Isaiah has had to overcome a number of barriers and challenges over the years. He has spoken of how he has repeatedly been told that, ‘people like him don’t go to elite universities such as Harvard or UCL.’ Clearly, Isaiah has proven that this is not the case.

He has excelled academically, and is also a nationally acclaimed basketball player.

His aspirations are admirable, with him hoping that he can focus his studies on how the stigma around mental health can be overcome. It seems a shame, therefore, that a financial barrier might hold Isaiah back from achieving his full potential.

On his crowd funding page, Isaiah says that sometimes ‘we are told that due to our ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, class, or disability, our dream is unachievable. No. What is important, as far as I am concerned, is not how our background can limit us, but rather how our background can propel us to our destination.’

With such an inspirational and powerful message, we are sure that Isaiah would be a credit to Harvard, and hopefully his #StratfordToHarvard campaign will help him to achieve his dream.

Let’s make sure this young man can fulfil his dreams.

If you would like to donate or learn more about Isaiah’s campaign, please visit

http://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/stratfordtoharvard

Talia Robinson