On Monday evening, Ayesha Khurram was feeling a little down. Her university tuition and associated costs were piling up and her classes were less than three weeks away.
Unbeknownst to her parents, the 20-year-old heard the pair quietly talking behind closed doors about the cost of her tuition and their distress about not being to pay the fees.
Khurram did what most young people do—she turned to social media to share her feelings.
Khurram is a huge Taylor Swift super fan and the online community rallied behind her, offering words of support and reposting her message.
As she was baking cookies from a Taylor Swift-approved chai cookie recipe, her phone alerted her of activity on her PayPal account. The deposit of $6,386.47 was from none other than Taylor Swift herself. She said that she threw the cookie she was about to eat across the room.
The super star has followed Khurram—as she does many of her fans online—for almost four years and often “likes” her posts.
In the transaction details, a message was included that said “Ayesha, get your learn on girl! I love you! Taylor.”
Instantly, her debt was wiped clean.
Khurram was born in Pakistan and grew up in Dubai before immigrating to Canada in 2015. She says she was bullied as a child and has always found solace in the Grammy-winner’s music.
The second year accounting student at the University of Waterloo admits she takes a lot of abuse for being a fan and will do anything for Swift, including “giving up organs to see her in concert.”
Last year, Swift’s people reached out inviting her to a Toronto ‘Reputation’ tour show, telling her she could even bring her two younger sisters along for the backstage meet and greet.
She says Swift “knew who she was” and greeted her like a friend.
“We held hands and I kissed her on the cheek.”
Khurram was surprised again late Wednesday afternoon to see that another $6,386.47 had been deposited into her PayPal account.
On social media, Khurram said that PayPal itself was the benefactor.
“Now I have more money than I could ever ask for/dream of and I can’t stop crying,” she said on Instagram.
What will she do with the new windfall?
“Buy a lot of the new Taylor Swift albums,” she said.
Swift’s new album “Lover” will be released on Aug. 23.