For Ayesha Khurram, an Ontario university student and huge fan of Taylor Swift, life has just gotten a whole lot easier.<\/p>\n
Swift sent $6,386.47 to Khurram through PayPal\u00a0on Monday after the Mississauga, Ont. resident\u00a0posted on Tumblr on the weekend about her struggles to pay\u00a0tuition this semester.<\/p>\n
Khurram, 20, who met Swift last year after the singer performed in Toronto, is a University of Waterloo accounting and financial management student going into\u00a0second year. She\u00a0says she didn’t know how she and her parents were going to afford her schooling this year and asked online for help.<\/p>\n “One of my friends online was like, ‘You should drop your PayPal so we can help you out,’ and I was like, ‘That’s not a bad idea, I should totally do that.’ And then I did. And next thing I know, I literally have no more problems anymore.”<\/p>\n Khurram said she was baking cookies when she got the notification from Taylor Nation, LLC about the online money transfer.<\/p>\n A note attached to the\u00a0transfer said: “Ayesha, get your learn on, girl! I love you, Taylor!”<\/p>\n It was a special moment. “I can’t\u00a0put it into words. It was insane. I could not believe it,” Khurram\u00a0said.<\/p>\n “It’s more than what I asked for. She is just so generous. I literally cried myself to sleep last night. This is the kind of thing you don’t expect. You don’t even dream about it. In no corner of your brain are you thinking, ‘Taylor Swift is going to send me money and help me out.'”<\/p>\n Khurram’s mother suffers from chronic kidney disease and Khurram said her family has been under much emotional stress.<\/p>\n She said she also received less funding this year from the\u00a0Ontario Student Assistance Program\u00a0and her tuition is higher\u00a0this year\u00a0than last. She’ll be paying\u00a0nearly $9,000 this year.<\/p>\n “It feels like this huge burden has been lifted off me. I literally feel so happy. I’m going to go out. I’m going to eat a burger. I’m going to watch a movie. I’m just going to celebrate, like fully. I can’t believe this has happened to me.”<\/p>\n Swift and Khurram\u00a0met backstage at a concert on Aug. 3, 2018 at Toronto’s Rogers Centre\u00a0after Swift noticed and liked Tumblr posts by Khurram.\u00a0Swift interacts with her fans online, Khurram\u00a0said.<\/p>\n Following the likes, Taylor Nation sent Khurram a direct message and invited her to meet the pop star.<\/p>\n “She is literally my favourite person on the planet,” Khurram said.<\/p>\n Khurram has posted the note from Taylor Nation and Taylor herself on Instagram.<\/p>\n‘Huge burden has been lifted off me’<\/h2>\n