I can still recall standing with my siblings outside of my house at dawn. The January air nipped at my skin, jolting me awake and shocking me into reality. I waved goodbye to my parents, unsure of when we would meet again. In 2020, my dad made the decision to self-deport himself back to Mexico. He was told he had to remain outside of the country for 10 years before being eligible to apply for U.S. residency. My mom, who had recently become a naturalized citizen, chose to stay by his side throughout the process and moved back to Mexico with him. Initially, I was in a numb state and attempted to carry on with my life as normal, ignoring the pivotal moment that had occurred. As the weeks carried on, however, I could no longer ignore the great loss I had just suffered. I found myself being confronted with incredible responsibilities that I could have never imagined for myself as a sophomore in college. At the time, the COVID pandemic swept across the world, changing everyone’s life. As I was learning to navigate school in a virtual setting, I was also learning the fundamentals of being an adult. This included learning to cook, budget, and balance my life as well as taking over my parent’s responsibilities, including all financial obligations to our home and taking charge over their rental properties they left behind. When my parent’s left, I was working part-time, but I quickly realized that to support myself, I needed a greater source of income. I was hired as an office assistant and almost doubled my hours of work per week. Despite the increased workload, I found myself thriving at my new job, and after a few months, I was promoted to training coordinator. I assumed a full-time workload during the day and went to school at night. Although balancing a busy schedule could get hectic at times, I was committed to fulfilling my obligations to myself and to my parents. I set three priorities for myself: do well at work, do well at school, and maintain a strong relationship with my parents, despite the distance. Over our weekly video calls, I began to ask more personal questions of them, which I had never dared to ask when I was younger. They recounted their most vulnerable experiences with me and told me about the hopes and the harshness that came with being immigrants in America. Because of their stories, I became very invested in learning more about the immigrant experience. For my capstone projects in my senior year, I chose to write both about immigration in the United States. The more I learned about the subject, the more helpless I felt about my dad’s situation as I was unable to help him with his case. From this separation with my parent’s, I came to realize that although I was unable to change the situation that my dad was stuck in, I could one day become a lawyer who has the ability to change the lives of immigrants by helping them obtain legal status. My decision to apply to law school is the next step in my goal to help immigrants to obtain legal status. I have seen first-hand the great impact that legal status can have on a family, and I am committed to realizing my goal of impacting the lives of immigrants for the better. Through my work, I wish to be a source of hope and relief to many, and law school will prepare me to be just that.