PERSONAL JOURNEY

“As I began to establish my life as a young adult in the U.S., I began to more fully grasp what it means to be undocumented in the U.S. I graduated from high school in 2006 and immediately began pursuing higher education. Ultimately, school became too much to juggle with work, and my own feelings of failure sabotaged my efforts to overcome academic obstacles, leading me to drop out. My master status as an undocumented immigrant meant that establishing a career rather than just a job in the U.S was quixotic, which perpetuated the thought that my education would not matter. In 2013, through the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, I was granted the ability to work and establish a life in the U.S. without constant fear of deportation. With the difficulties of being undocumented partially eliminated, I gained a new sense of confidence in my abilities to succeed in the country I call home. I returned to community college with renewed determination. Today, I hold two Associate degrees in social sciences with Honors from Santiago Canyon Community College, a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with President’s Honors, from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master of Arts in Sociology, with graduate distinction, from California State University, Fullerton. I am currently on track to graduate with a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. Along the way, I received my lawful permanent residency in 2022 and US citizenship in 2025.”