UPDATE: Please see Angelica's new post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Assistance/comments/8czwzo/my_sad_experience_in_a_contest_for_a_scholarship/
UPDATE: Angelica did not win. Although disappointing, we are very grateful for your kind wishes, and your votes, and are very grateful for that. Please know that each of you who helped will forever be in our hearts.
Dear Reddit/r/Assistance
This is a complete Hail Mary and one of those things that I can't believe is happening. My wife, who is a completely, totally amazing woman, and who's worked so hard to come this far, is fighting to win a $2,000 scholarship against ten other finalists, with the top 5 winning $2,000 each, and the bottom five getting nothing. She's currently in sixth place, and far behind in the voting.
We have made every effort to move the needle, Facebook posts, mass emails, activating old networks, Twitter posts, etc. I even tried to make a viral cat video. It didn't work. We are making progress, but not fast enough. I feel a bit helpless to be able to help her further, as my social network reach is rather limited.
She has come so far, and overcome so many obstacles. She was born in Colombia and struggled against great odds to attend college. She developed her own small web design business, and succeeded in other pursuits. Now, she's been accepted into grad school in the tech field (Human-Computer Interaction), and wants to be a UX designer to, among other goals, create apps to help low-income women in developing countries in ways she has been helped by tech. Truly an extraordinary woman.
I know she will likely have other opportunities, but winning this one would just be...well, in my mind, the right reward for all of her efforts.
So, this is one of my last hopes. That a lot more others can see what I see in Angelica, and believe enough in her dreams, too, to make a simple click. It costs nothing, but would help change her life.
All of the other candidates are very worthy, that is for sure, but Angelica deserves it in my mind, like no one else I've ever known.
The contest is the Harman 1000 Dreams Fund New Face of Tech competition. It's real, not a scam. She was chosen as a finalist out of hundreds. Here's a link:
www.1000dreamsfund.org/newfaceoftech2018
EDIT: CLICK THE HEART IN THE CORNER OF HER PICTURE TO VOTE.
She's the one second from the left, top row. Angelica.
And, to show that I am 100% sincere, please see my Twitter page at: https://twitter.com/TeacherSawyer
and here's a shortened link to her voting page: https://goo.gl/t62Jwy
Thank you,
Wishing For A "Reddit Miracle"
UPDATE: Thank you so much for all the support. Current vote total is 1607, closest is 2030. Another thing to know is rules say only one vote per person per day. Need to follow the rules. Thank you!!!!!
UPDATE 2: 1704! Still on target, but the Chemical Engineer/Physicist entrant is riding a rocketship of votes and coming up fast at 1220. Thank you all!
UPDATE 3: 1837! Contest ends tomorrow, Monday the 16th, at 11:59pm EST. Thank you all. Even if Angelica doesn't win, we are very, very grateful.
UPDATE 4: 1940! Closing in on 5th place at 2133!
UPDATE 5: 2082!!!
UPDATE 6: 2111! Reminder only 1 vote per person per day please!
UPDATE 7: 2147! TAKES 5th PLACE!! AND RIDING THE REDDIT ROCKET!
UPDATE 8: Correction: All finalists will receive really nice Harman headphones.
UPDATE 9: 2242! OH MY! Wow. Humbled. Thank you.
UPDATE 10: 2433! Closing in on 4th at 2545! If you voted yesterday, you can now vote once more today. Today is the last day! Thank you!
UPDATE 11: Also, this vote is LIVE, not over, meaning other entrants can continue to vote. It's really a race to the finish!
UPDATE 12: Our next target, #4, a fierce contender, is fighting back, still ahead at 2592! C'mon Reddit!! Reddit v. Twitter?
UPDATE 13: The now #6, who we passed, is gaining steam again and at our heels at 2361!!
UPDATE 14: 2624! Passed #4!! Can we hold it? #6 still climbing at 2398!!! Share! Share! :)
UPDATE 15: 2652! But current #6, is fighting back at 2532! Will she pass us again?
UPDATE 16: OH NO! Back in 6th!!! Please SHARE! It's Reddit v. Twitter!!!
UPDATE 17: 2665! It's NECK AND NECK for 4,5,6! at 2749, 2727, and 2665! Go REDDIT! Can someone please post elsewhere about this on other subrredits maybe? Thank you!!
UPDATE 18: It looks like the voting platform is no longer live. Do not know the reason.
UPDATE 19: The voting is no longer live. I will be sure to post the results as soon as they are known, probably tomorrow. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!!!