As an immigrant born in the United States but raised in Mexico, the world I had to grow up in was very hard. I lived surrounded by violence and very hard moments that made me mature at a very young age. At the age of fifteen, I had to move to the United States to have a better chance of life. That is why I strive to get good grades and maintain my GPA, in addition to creating good relationships with the people in my community and surroundings. On top of this, one of my first communal experiences in the US involved joining a Catholic church and becoming part of the community. This had never been something I experienced or thought I needed in my life. Now I can’t see myself without the support of a whole faith-based congregation. They influence and inspire me to work for the things I doubt I can achieve. Not only that but both my family in Mexico and my church family remind me that it is necessary to give to others the experience and help I’ve been given to those who may be in a similar boat as me. In this way, I can add to and enrich the minds of students who come from a similar background or who don’t have a community. Community has become everything for me and I hope all can find it in some way within the community. As a first-generation immigrant living in the United States, that in itself is a family achievement that I experience alone. I live with relatives who have college/university experience but as for my background, there is little knowledge and support of how to navigate the education system in the US. On top of that, my twin sister and I are considered parentless due to not having any support from family back in Mexico. I solely depend on what has been provided for me by my relatives on the little they can afford for the two young women they house. Due to this, I have been limited to school and community involvement which is manageable in our seven-person household. More often than not, I cannot prioritize much more community involvement as I want to respect the hospitality given to me. I would love to have a job and have more community involvement with organizations I like, but that is currently limited for me.

It was April 17th, 2021 when my life took an unexpected change; I packed my things, along with my twin sister, and moved to the United States. In the blink of an eye, everything I had achieved in Mexico no longer mattered. I left my financially struggling suicidal mother, my three half-siblings, and everything I knew for what I hoped would be a better life. I felt like a bucket of ice water was dumped on me as the reality of my move settled in. I was coming back to the country I was born in but had not lived in for 15 years. Not knowing the language and culture, and being thousands of miles from family; I quickly had to overcome these barriers to achieve the “American Dream”. I was born in the United States on July 25th, 2005. My parents divorced months after my birth and I was raised in Mexico for the first 15 years of my life. My memory of my life in Mexico is a beautiful dream that soon met reality. I lived in the bliss of life until I was old enough to understand everything that was going on around me. I remember days when my mother would prepare food for my siblings and me, she’d serve us on colorful plastic plates. Sitting at the table with warm tortillas and delicious drinks, I remember asking my mother if she was hungry because I never saw her eat the same amount of food as my brothers and me, but she said no. I have the memory of the start of one of my primary school years, I had been faced with the situation of needing a backpack. We did not have the resources to buy them at the moment so my sister and I used plastic bags for school. I had a deep sense of shame for the situation I was in but I knew it was the way things had to be. These memories are my motivation for working hard and staying strong while facing my biggest fears. The fear of failing and not making my and my parent's sufferings worthwhile. I have been in the US for close to three years now and my greatest pride is that I've worked to achieve and maintain high grades amidst the challenges of immigrating and living in a different culture and learning a new language. Countless extra hours have been spent self-teaching the English language as my high school provided little English language learning support. On top of that, I have built a beautiful relationship with the relatives my sister and I live with. These relationships have inspired me to dream of what I can’t even imagine yet. I realize I may never stop missing the beautiful memories of my younger years, nor forget the struggling moments in life. Yet, I hope to replace them with hope, faith, and peace as I live a reality I hadn't thought would end up being one, living in the US. As an immigrant born in the United States but raised in Mexico, the world I had to grow up in was very hard. I lived surrounded by violence and very hard moments that made me mature at a very young age. At the age of fifteen, I had to move to the United States to have a better chance of life. That is why I strive to get good grades and maintain my GPA, in addition to creating good relationships with the people in my community and surroundings. On top of this, one of my first communal experiences in the US involved joining a Catholic church and becoming part of the community. This had never been something I experienced or thought I needed in my life. Now I can’t see myself without the support of a whole faith-based congregation. They influence and inspire me to work for the things I doubt I can achieve. Not only that but both my family in Mexico and my church family remind me that it is necessary to give to others the experience and help I’ve been given to those who may be in a similar boat as me. In this way, I can add to and enrich the minds of students who come from a similar background or who don’t have a community. Community has become everything for me and I hope all can find it in some way within the community.