Dear loves,

My name is Jo-Ann With and I am a 24 year old product design student who recently got accepted in to LCI Barcelona. When I heard that I was accepted at LCI to study product design in Barcelona the first thought that popped into my mind was “ JEEJ, but HOW???”. Well how did we end up here in the first place? I applied to Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht back in 2017 to Study Product design because I knew I wanted to tell stories and be an activist through art and design. I am a passionate, hardworking, dedicated student that believes she chose the best major ever. One of the biggest lessons in my life is to not give up and believe that everything has possibility to be created. You just have to think broad, dare to expand your skills and know how to ask for help. Hku has been amazing to me and I have made some stuff that make me really proud like the film you can see down below. 

Though Hku has been really good to me I am ready to take my eduacation to the next level. That is why I am SUPER excited to have the chance to attend this school in Barcelona. I will be learning valuable skills that I wouldn't as easily get taught in the Netherlands. To be more immersed in a school that is really focused on designing products is what I am going for. This because I want to perfect my skills further as a product designer and want to create beautiful functional designs. To be really focused on design only and build my portfolio would be an incredible experience. It would help shape my identity within design even more and give me the right tools to continue my studies after the Exchange. This will help me understand where I fit within the product design industry and so I can have clearer as to where to I am heading after graduation.

Unfortunately, the last couple of months have been a financial rollercoaster. This really made me worry if it would be possible for me to finance this lifechanging opportunity. Here in the Netherlands, I have always worked next to my studies, but this won't be an option for me in Barcelona, as I will already be juggling life in a different language and culture.

I've been toying with the idea to raise funding for a while, but society's push to individualism kept me from reaching out.
We are told, programmed even, to “figure it out by yourself”, so asking for help from my community in this way has been a real challenge in vulnerability, and showing up for myself and each other. Because I want to practice what I preach and show other black (queer) women that showing your needs is also being "strong". Being strong enough to give others the chance to support your journey. We deserve that.

Some details:
I am staying for a minimum of 6 months, but hope to extend my stay for an additional 6 months for an internship. This would be a huge enrichment for my portfolio and give me even more insight as to where my career will be heading. For now, though, I'm counting on September '19-Feb '20.

In order to leave, I need about €2000 in travel expenses, moving in and starting with a clean slate. This includes flights, vaccinations and other travel costs to help me and my cat move south safely. And for me to be able to start in Barcelona from a better place.

I would love to be able to make this dream come true, and I hope you can help me achieve it. I want to show more black (queer) girls that we can do anything we put our minds to and that there is a community behind us. A community of loves that believes in you and want to see you go places. Because then we all do.

Thank you So much for taking your time to read this!

Sharing is caring!

With love,

Jo-Ann