American Dream Fund

The inspiration for this fund roots from my personal experience coming to the US as an undocumented 9-year-old along with my mother and brother to meet with my father who had left Mexico to provide for us when I was 4 years old. He came to the US chasing the famous “American Dream” in hopes of providing us with a better brighter future. Growing up in the United States I experienced a lot of racism because I did not speak the language and because of my legal status. As time went by and I learned the language I started realizing that besides not speaking English I was different than a lot of my friends, I did not have a legal status and during my high school years I became well aware of some of the barriers and roadblocks this would put on my journey to college. First off, I was not able to apply for FASFA, second a lot of the scholarships I researched stated that they were for “US Citizens” and lastly, I knew for sure my parents would not be able to afford putting me through college. I was able to get a few scholarships which went towards helping family with expenses, and was working a fulltime job a part time job and for a short period of time attending community college. It did not take long before I realized that the load was weighing me and I had to make a choice to continue working. Thankfully after a bill passed by Obama Administration I was able to apply for DACA (deferred action for childhood arrivals) and start a job as a part time teller not knowing I would make a career out of it.