I shouldn't be up right now, but I am. It's the middle of the night; it should be quiet, but it isn't. I hear my parents hushed voices. “They pushed back the date of her case.” “We’ve invested so much time and money but we’ve gotten nowhere.” Growing up, I saw my parents grow weary as they tried to sponsor my Grandma for permanent residency. The process taxed them mentally and led me to realize just how outdated and broken our immigration system is. Through my time volunteering with Luminus, a local organization that serves immigrants in my community, and interning at an immigration law firm, I’ve met and heard the stories of many hardworking people who, due to the inequities of the immigration system and despite their credentials, are unable to obtain a visa due to the lottery system. They were not criminals, but simply hard-working, highly educated people searching for a better life. In high school, through my school’s Independent Research and Intern Mentor Program, I explored even further into the world of immigration. I soon discovered that the only plausible way to fix the immigration system is through policy. I have always wanted to learn more about the intersectionality of democracy and citizenship. I envision myself in the future as an agent of change in the field of immigration, translating my education into impactful change for immigrants. I want to study Public Policy because it will enable me to become the change maker I want to be. In the past I've used my advocacy skills to lobbied members of Congress to my local senators about immigration, created resources and provided my time to help local immigrants pass their citizenship, and furthermore used my skills to help assist immigrants in my local community. Through my involvement with Voters of Tomorrow Maryland, I’ve also used my civic engagement to pursue state-level immigration policy. While I do pursue this work, I know I do more. In the future I want to become an immigration attorney to help people firsthand navigate the system. I currently work as an interns at a immigration law firm in my local community where I help assist in paperwork while also learning about the ins and outs of the system. I hope to utilize this experience and my future education to fight for a better immigration system.

“America’s possibilities are limitless, for we possess all the qualities that this world without boundaries demands.” Growing up I was mesmerized by Obama’s iconic words when he gave his speech at his first inauguration. A president that looked like me. Who had skin like me? I’ve been enticed by the idea of politics and policy ever since his inauguration. At every opportunity I would get, I would involve myself with civic engagement by reaching out to community members around me and connecting with them to figure out what they wanted to see changed in our community. Through this, I learned the importance of civic engagement. However as I grew up, I realized that there was sometimes a lack of civic engagement in my community out of the notion that it was only reserved for a particular group and not for everyone. When I participated in Leadership U, a design-your-own-service-project program, I wanted a project that would reach anyone who felt different and motivate them to get involved with civic participation. Consequently, it was the 2022 election season. So I decided to create an awareness campaign, using a blog and an in-person workshop, on different immigrants within my community and how they used their voices to enact change and give. At the workshop, we emphasized the importance of voting and highlighted the power diverse voices can contribute to politics by bringing in local politicians. After the success of the original campaign, I wanted to extend my impact. Through a partnership with the Howard County Library System, my group created monthly zine workshops where students can not only learn how to express their identities through zines but also discover their ability to create change within their communities. After one of the workshops, a young girl came up to me and said, “Thank you so much for teaching me the value of expressing my identity.” I love zine-making because it encourages people to express their beliefs, identities, or ideas. The zine workshops provided an outlet to amplify diverse voices within politics and advocacy, especially within our community where one single narrative often heavily dominated. Using my own experiences, I found that my passions lie in uplifting the voices of everyone, whether that's through voting, creating effective legislation, or creating community service projects where I have a chance to go out into my community and create other changemakers. My project taught me the power of sharing and amplifying other voices. Beyond just this project, I have always wanted to learn more about the intersectionality of democracy and citizenship. Throughout high school, I deeply immersed myself in various elections across the country, seizing the opportunity to talk to voters about the current state of government. Leading Voters of Tomorrow, I’ve been able to start discussions around expanding the right to vote and how to get more teenagers more civically engaged. I want to continue my civic engagement journey while in college and further expand on it. Through civic engagement , I want to continue amplifying the voices of others in my current academic career and my future career in immigration and civil rights law. Since that girl approached me, she returned to every single zine workshop, developing her interest in AAPI advocacy. Just like how Barack Obama showed me that anyone is capable of making a difference. In the future, I want to instill this ideal in generations to come; to let everyone know they can have an impact and that they are too change makers.