Let's Help Students Like Mamon Get to University
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One Student's Story
Meet Mamon, one of the students this fund is designed to help. Mamon earned full scholarships to UPenn and HKUST but was blocked from enrolling by visa barriers.
Academically, Mamon scored in the top 1% of the Syrian national exams, despite coming from an extremely modest financial background. Mamon attended the First Superiors School in Latakia, a highly selective institution, where he led his team to qualify for the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge. He co-founded Brain Bee Syria, which is part of the world’s most respected neuroscience competitions.
These and other rare achievements give you a sense of Mamon’s accomplishments. You get the picture! He’s talented - and one of the kindest, most compassionate students we’ve worked with. He is now applying to universities in Türkiye and Qatar, where he'd face more than $10,000 in housing, travel, insurance, and other costs. His story is an example of the gap this fund exists to close.
Let's work together to support talented students like Mamon. We can do this.
A note from Mamon
In March 2011, when I was in second grade, the Syrian civil war began.
I feel like the war stole my childhood. My parents were worried because of the random missiles and kidnappings that occurred every day, and the situation in Syria got worse very quickly; some cities were completely destroyed. My city, Latakia, was one of the few places that was not as hard hit. But even there, we were bombed by missiles, and many people we knew lost their lives. I did not have a safe childhood.
Despite the war, when I was an eleventh grader, my team got first place nationally in the Syrian Mathematical Modeling Challenge to optimize water access from the Euphrates River for local residents. Our findings were presented to governmental officials, and we qualified for the international round. I led several projects, including one where we tried to find numerical solutions to cancer cell multiplication prediction. From these experiences, my passion for the integration of sciences, especially the connection between mathematical models and biological sciences, was solidified.
In February 2023, as I was getting ready for my Syrian national leaving examinations, a big earthquake hit Latakia. We had to move out of our house because of the danger of more earthquakes. Regardless, I took my national leaving examinations and got the 8th rank nationally by final score, with a score of 2893/2900.
The Syrian war also hit my family hard financially. My father earns around 100 USD a month from his job as a university professor, and around the same amount from his freelancing job. My mother, on the other hand, earns around 110 USD from her job. While my earnings vary from month to month, depending on the number of lessons that I teach, typically I make 75 USD.
In December 2024, I was admitted to UPenn with a full-ride scholarship. Because of the travel ban on Yemeni nationals by the US, I was not allowed to attend. So, in the summer of 2025, I applied to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and was again admitted with a full-ride scholarship, but my Hong Kong visa was denied. This year, my admission to HKUST was resurrected with the help of Second Chance, and I reapplied for the visa in mid-June. Two days before the semester was to start, I received the news that my student visa to Hong Kong had been denied again.
Despite three visa refusals, I will not be deterred from my goal. I know I will find a way to go to university because of the support of Second Chance, but I don’t know when or where. I have applied to universities in Turkiye and Qatar, and while waiting to hear admissions decisions, I continue to pursue any and all opportunities to begin my studies.
I believe that every person has the right to access higher education, and I see that students with vulnerable passports, like me, are subject to a system that treats them as a danger. I am just a student who yearns to sit in a classroom, acquiring knowledge regarding complex biological phenomena, or in a lab understanding how to grow bacterial colonies in Petri dishes.
I aspire to study biochemical engineering, neuroscience, or any field that allows me to cover more than one area of science and connect them back to neuroscience. I want to grasp how the human brain responds and how the chemistry of the brain changes during wartime. I want to eventually contribute to research regarding memory-related disorders, especially the yet-to-be-curable ones. One reason for my interest in this field comes from having cared for my aunt who suffers from epilepsy and anterograde amnesia. As her primary carer, I have considered what treatments could potentially look like and the difference they could make.
I am eager to start my journey at a new university, whether that is in Türkiye, Qatar, or any country with a viable visa pathway. I am grateful to Second Chance for working to help me unlock this dream.
Your contributions to Second Chance will go towards filling any funding gaps, including, but not limited to, tuition, housing, travel, visa procedures, health insurance, and other fees (books, basic living expenses, etc.) for students like me. Any amount you can contribute will be life-changing for students seeking their second chance!
Now, I have one last shot: If I am not able to start a degree, I will remain in Syria, surviving on little with my family, and my future will remain at stake.
Thank you deeply! Mamon
Gifts to the Student Access Fund are not restricted to any one student. If the Board does not award Mamon a grant, or awards less than his full costs, the funds will support other students in similar circumstances.
Access for Students Like Mamon
The above is the story of one student; someone who has achieved something that few students do. He was able to be admitted to two of the world’s best universities - an Ivy League in the West and a top university in the East - because of his academic scholarship, leadership, and impact.
Many of the students we work with are like Mamon: they win full scholarships but still can't enroll, because scholarships often don't cover housing, flights, health insurance, visa fees, or books. This Student Access Fund pools donations to close these gaps. Grants from the fund are awarded by our Board of Directors based on financial need, academic merit, and urgency, using objective criteria outlined on our Resources for Students page. Gifts are contributions to Second Chance at Higher Ed, Inc., which retains full discretion and control over their use. Gifts cannot be designated for any individual student.
Please donate and share this page with everyone who could help. Thank you a lot!
Richard Naylor - $50 ⭐ Teresa Barickman - $100 ⭐ Patrick Barickman - $50 ⭐ Nancy Barickman - $100 "Wishing all good things for Mamon!" ⭐ Carol Barickman - $1,000 ⭐ Audrey Smith - $100 "I am pleased to support the amazing work accomplished by Second Chance!" ⭐
Richard Naylor - $50 ⭐ Teresa Barickman - $100 ⭐ Patrick Barickman - $50 ⭐ Nancy Barickman - $100 "Wishing all good things for Mamon!" ⭐ Carol Barickman - $1,000 ⭐ Audrey Smith - $100 "I am pleased to support the amazing work accomplished by Second Chance!" ⭐