Help me get to Graduate School!

Hello all!

   My name is Shannon and I am currently enrolled to enter University of Sydney Australia's Anthropology Graduate studies program in March of 2013. While I have obtained funding to pay for tuition/ room and board, I'm in need of help funding my plane ticket, visa costs, and first two weeks of housing.

Ok, but what are you studying?

   My plan is to conduct participant observation among a large Pentecostal church congregation, most Ideally Hillsong. I would like to study young adult participation in these types of churches. Initially, I seek to understand why the current generation enters and stays with this type of worship. I would like to continue to my doctorate where I study the implications of this belief on their lives and the greater culture.

How does this research impact our world?

   Studying Evangelical religion is something that I feel very strongly about. On our increasingly secularized world, religious and non religious people are not understanding each other and butting heads more and more. I feel that fostering an understanding of each other through academics is my way of contributing to the national dialogue. My hope is that I will contribute to our current generation being able to work/respect each other when we rise to the age of political and social positions of power. 

You can view my research proposal at http://shannondresearch.webs.com/

My hope is that if you can't give anything to fund my project, that you share this on Facebook and other platforms to help me gain as much exposure as I can. Thanks so much for reading though this and I hope to have great news for everyone soon!