Swift helps teen realize her college dream
LONDON — Vitoria Mario had secured a place to study at one of Britain’s top universities, but she did not have the money to cover the cost.
In hopes of achieving her dream, she started a Gofundme page to raise the 40,000 pounds (about $52,000) she needed. But with the start of her course looming, by Thursday she had reached only about half of her target when a donation of 23,373 pounds came in.
The name attached to it: Taylor Swift.
‘‘Vitoria, I came across your story online and am so inspired by your drive and dedication to turning your dreams into reality,’’ the singer wrote on the fundraising page. ‘‘I want to gift you the rest of your goal amount. Good luck with everything you do! Love, Taylor.’’
The good news for Mario came as hundreds of thousands of students across England have had their entry to universities disrupted — first by the pandemic, which forced the cancellation of the exams usually taken to secure college places, and then by the government’s use of an algorithm that disproportionately lowered scores of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
But Mario — an 18-year-old from Coimbra, Portugal, who moved to London four years ago to pursue her education — still secured an offer from the University of Warwick to study math.
‘‘I was told by my mother that if you can get a university education in the UK, you will be set apart for life,’’ the teenager, who has been living with relatives in London, told a British news site.
Despite securing a loan to pay for tuition, Mario found she was ineligible for a grant or loan to cover her housing and living expenses because she has not lived in Britain for at least five years. She said on her fundraising page that her widowed mother, who lives in Portugal, could not afford to pay those.
Brampton Manor Academy, the public high school that she attended in East London, called Mario, who is Black, a ‘‘star pupil’’ when it shared the news that Swift had helped her.
Mario said her fundraising efforts included emailing hundreds of people at top corporations to ask for support, but that she was either turned down or heard nothing back. She also traipsed around some of London’s most-affluent areas, slipping letters into residents’ mailboxes. But still, she heard nothing.
Swift is also helping fans navigate the pandemic. At the end of March, some shared screenshots of $3,000 donations she had made to help them cope with the stresses brought on by job losses.
She also gave money to Grimey’s, a record store in Nashville, that was at risk of going out of business.