I Want To Go To College

I came to this point of my life through an untraditional path. I was born in the southern Mexican peninsula to a hard working single mother. From an early age I learned the value of work. I began cleaning windshields at stoplights and polishing shoes when I was seven, primarily to help my mother keep my older sister in school. At the age of twelve my father offered to bring me to the U.S. to learn English and one day return to Mexico having mastered this precious skill. Although life as an undocumented migrant was filled with obstacles, false starts and uncertainty, I remained steady and I never abandon my dreams.

I always kept in my mind how my father worked day and night for little pay to provide for my family. Seeing both of my parents struggling as two young immigrants trying to provide a home for two kids was the fuel that kept me pushing forward. I am the oldest, so naturally responsibility was placed on my shoulders. I had to take care of my younger brother, while my parents worked. I also served as a translator for my mother who spoke very little English. My parents barely received education in high school, so I helped my mom and dad with most of the paperwork. I remember writing letters for immigration, employers, lawyers, and to the court for several family members.

I had the privilege to grow up in the city of Miami, a city where Hispanics are the majority. I consider myself lucky as I didn’t have the struggles most Hispanics face in other parts of the US. Although my family was not economically rich, I was rich because I was loved. My parents always supported my choices and taught me from an early age to have perseverance and kindness instilled within my heart. They taught me that there is no greater investment then that of knowledge and for that I needed to obtain a higher education.

As I have blossomed into the individual I am today I have developed a significantly different outlook from most of my peers. My mother migrated from Colombia to the United States because she wanted to create a better life for my older brother and me. Her journey inspires me and it a journey which many individuals with Latino backgrounds have to undergo to have the polity to give their children education possibilities. The sacrifice that my mother and those like her have bared have revealed to me the importance of what it means to work hard. As a family of immigrants I have developed an appreciation for those close to me. Living in the United States I see my grandparents and all of my siblings every two years, I understand what it is too mean

I am an immigrant, many years ago I made the decision to move from Honduras to Texas, the transition was hard and I didn’t have any relatives to help me to deal with the adaptation process. Prayers and humility were my everyday help. I still remember my first job in the USA spraying insulation on new commercial building construction and cooking Mexican tacos at a small restaurant at night. While doing that job, I realized very quickly that education was the only way to succeed in this great country therefore, I quit the taco business and education became my priority.

One day in 2011, I had an epiphany that I wanted to become the CEO of a hospital one day. The CEO of Rose Medical Center became aware of this and informed me that I could certainly have his job one day, but I must first go back to school and get my Master's degree. He is not the only person that has hounded me about going back to school. Many other managers, administrators and even family members have said the same. Clearly they see something in me that I had not quite yet see in myself. I think I am finally coming to the realization that if they think I can obtain a Master's degree, then I certainly possess the skills, knowledge and motivation to go back to school. It is time for me to shake up my content, routine life and take the step to bettering myself and fulfilling the commitment I made to myself on December 31,

My family and I migrated to the United States about eight years ago searching for our American Dream. As an eight-year-old I could not accept that this strange new world where people spoke a different language I didn't understand, where I didn't have to wear a school uniform, where I didn't attend an all girl school, and where not everybody was catholic was what I was supposed to call home. It was a gargantuan change that took a while to accept, but now that I am older I am so grateful and I know that I would go through everything again just to be where I am today, especially because I know an innumerable amount of undocumented students would give anything to be in my position.

As success is directly tied to education in most cases, there is a large number of illegal immigrant families that have moved to the United States of America in hopes of providing their brilliant children a brighter future, as they may not have the same opportunities in their own country. Leen Nour El-Zayat from the American Civil Liberties Union writes, “Ever since I came to this country as an eight-year-old child, I have been raised just like any other young American. My family left Lebanon for the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1999 to secure their personal safety and a short time later, my parents were faced with another conflict and had to make the difficult decision to come here to avoid the war and danger unraveling around us. My father thought of his family’s safety first, so that we could live in a place where we could be safe and pursue our dreams. He knew this was the country where we could live out our dreams by going to school, working hard and contributing to our community. For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a doctor. As a child, I ran around acting like a doctor, telling my mother how I wanted to save lives and help families need. But as I grew up, I started realizing the restrictions I had to live with. When I was a high school sophomore, I watched my classmates get their driver’s licenses and jobs, and come and go as they pleased. Questions started to loosen in my mind about not only the present, but also the bright future I had been looking forward to my whole life. How was I going to able to go to college? How would I attend class if there was no ride available for me? How could I afford the costs of college without any financial aid? My dreams were crushed when I learned that I could not get a driver’s license in Michigan. I can finally get a job, but how am I going to get to

Back when I was little everything came without a struggle: money, food, or transportation. It could easily come with a snap of one’s fingers, that’s how well my family was doing. Although I was young I knew my family was happy and I knew my family had worked hard for what we had. Both of my parents came from Mexico when they young, at different times, to come get better life for themselves and their families back home. Soon my Father received his citizenship in 1986, for the president at the time, Ronald Reagan, had passed a bill in which granted citizenship for certain workers. Later in 2007 my mother officially received her citizenship by taking her test. My parents have always done things the right way morally and legally, never cutting any lines in retaining their goals. This ethics soon passed down to me

Do you know the struggles and how immigrants feel about leaving their whole life behind in their native country? Well, I should know, since I am an immigrant who has migrated from The Dominican Republic to the United States. A lot of people do not know how difficult it is for people to leave their countries, it has been five years since I came to the United States. The situation was very hard for my family and I. Since I was 2 years old, I have lived with my father, but I have always been really close with my mother. My father and my grandmother decided that moving to the United States would be a great opportunity for me and my siblings. I was excited, but at the same time it was a very difficult decision because I had to leave my mother behind.

For the most part, I grew up in an environment that valued education, and for this I am grateful. My Mom has worked incredibly hard to keep us in Arlington, despite not really having the means to do so. Neither of my parents went to college, and because of this they placed so stress on education, coincidently they both have worked in the school system. After my Dad passed away, my Mom turned all of her attention to making my sister and I succeed academically, forcing us to go to school and stay on top of school work. Because of the large role education has played in my life, my interests are centered around learning, specifically neuroscience, biology, and public health. Currently, I am hoping to become an epidemiologist or physicians assistant.

“What do you mean I cannot live with my parents for the rest of my life? So you mean to tell me that I actually have to become an adult?”. These have been the thoughts plaguing my mind for the past four years and now that my time is up, I get to do something about them. My main problem with going to college is being away from my home, my family, and my friends. I knew that if I were to pick the wrong college, I would be running back to my mom in a weeks time. Finding the right college is a universal challenge for every upcoming college student, but when I found Baylor University I knew it was my new home.

When kids are growing up they always dream about what they want to become when they are older. Some will say astronaut, president, or professional athlete etc. and I was very much one of those kids and just being a professional athlete wasn’t one of them. That’s because I would always dream about what college I would go to and my brother and I would always have conversations like these. We would always talk about the college or professional team we would want to go to and we were never on the same wavelength when it came to these teams. I would always be a Georgia Bulldog, Colts, St. Louis Cardinals, or even Carolina Panthers player. He would be the Fighting Irish (Notre Dame), Braves, Or a Dolphins player.

As the descendant of an immigrant father and his father before him, I’ve witnessed firsthand the means and consequences of trying to enter this country and become a citizen. The

Being the first-born son of immigrant parents, I learned that nothing is impossible. All of my life, my parents would tell me that I could do anything I set my mind to. As a child, I did not put a lot of thought into this. I would occasionally roll my eyes each time they recited the same cheesy line. Having heard this countless times beforehand, I did not see the significance in my parents repeating it. Not until I was much older did I finally recognize the weight behind this statement. My parents were only in their early twenties when they left Mexico for the United States. They had lived their whole lives in Mexico and were even enrolled at a university. Despite attending a great college, in Mexico, there are not a lot of opportunities to flourish in life. It was only until my mother became pregnant where she and my father seriously considered moving to the United States. They wanted what was best for the future, even if it meant leaving their friends, their family, and their lives behind. Taking their chances, they bravely and boldly ignored every reason against coming. My parents sacrificed everything and overcame the challenge of moving thousands of miles away from home into a completely different world.