Hi, I'm Sydney and I started graduate school in Austin, TX to study further my interest in human-caused environmental changes affecting frog behavior. I also did this for job stability. The only problem is I'm going further and further into debt with my medical bills despite my stipend and student insurance. It started with my university not making me aware that I would not be paid for a month that I was required to be here which meant moving (across the country), rent, and food expenses had to come out of my pocket. Then, over Thanksgiving break, one of my pets died after I had spent $500 on vet bills and visits. I had to give up my other pet as a result because I couldn't handle that happening again. My mental and physical health has been getting worse and both have incurred so many visits with specialists and psychologists. I've been diagnosed with autism, ADHD, and an anxiety disorder and what usually comes with it is plenty of co-morbidities like hEDS and POTS which affect my ability to walk and my heart health. This isn't great when I need to do field research. Specialist visits besides the psychologists ($500+) have already upped my debt by 3k. What would make this worse? ADHD medication that I have been wary to start because I cannot afford it, but I desperately need it to help me in academia. I cannot get a second job under my student contract, grants can only be used for research, and I already use the local food bank. I've exhausted my recourses here in Austin, TX. The hope for these visits was accommodations and physical therapy to mitigate further destroying my body. The latter still requires more doctor visits. I am already having a hard time funding my research and now it is affected by my constant struggle to pay off my growing credit card debt.

On top of all of this, the computer that I have been using since 2018 for college has started going kaput, and the same with my rusty 2010 car.

I am so tired.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.