I Used to Be an Undocumented Teen Immigrant Until This New Action Changed My Life As published in Teen Vogue, 1/20/2016 In 2001, I moved to the United States with my parents and younger sisters from Bolivia. I was 6 years old and hardly spoke a word of English. Today, America is my home. I’m…
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Kevin Gaytan – San José State University
Alone on the stage, alternatively in light and shadow, Kevin Gaytan performs a modern dance piece that he choreographed while at San José City College in California. The music is haunting, his movements are precise – his message heavy with significance to his own life.
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Nicole’s Story
“My name is Nicole. I am undocumented and I am unafraid.”
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Grace Couch – Speech
On May 5, 2015, CUNY hosted a Chancellor’s Reception for TheDream.US scholarship recipients. Among the three DREAMer speakers of the evening was 29-year-old Grace Couch, currently in the Nursing program at Hunter College, who spoke about her journey as an undocumented student and what inspires her career goals. Below is the text of her powerful speech:…
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Javier Silva – Arizona State University (online)
Snowboarding, Starbucks, and media production all make up part of DREAMer Javier Silva’s life journey so far. It started in Sinaloa, Mexico where he was born. His parents’ separation when he was five years old provided the catalyst for his immigration to the United States. His mother, destitute in Mexico without food or money, decided…
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Yulissa Chung Loo – Kingsborough Community College
– Full Name Yulissa Chung Loo. – Date of Birth January 8, 1996. – Where were you born? Panama (my heritage is Chinese). – How old were you when you came to the US? What were the circumstances? When I first came to the U.S. I was seven years old. At that time, my parents…
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Zury Amaro – Mount Washington College
Family means everything to DREAMer Zury Gonzalez-Amaro. She came to the U.S from Oaxaca, Mexico with her mother and siblings in 1993, when she was 10 years old. They made the journey to reunite with her father, who was already living in New Jersey. Fully aware of her status and inability to attend college, Zury…
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Ilder Garcia – Northern Virginia Community College
“It’s always been my dream to go to college…it’s an experience of being in a place where you’re going to find new people — more people that are just like you and believe in the same things you do. Knowing that college is going to change your whole life after it — that’s what drives…
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Meryem Benjelloun – Queens College
Meryem Benjelloun enjoyed the “typical high school experience” in Bay Ridge, New York, until her senior year, when “things changed.” She recalls, “I felt different from everyone else.” Born in Casablanca, Morocco, Benjelloun came to the U.S. with her family at the age of eight. Her parents decided to start a new life in a…
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Grace Couch – Hunter College
Though 30 year-old Grace Couch had to briefly put aside her dream of becoming a nurse, she has never given it up. Following stints at City College of New York and Queensborough Community College, Grace is now earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Hunter College. Her journey to this point involved hard work,…
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Tricella Kanglie – City College of New York
A particularly awful case of eczema brought Tricella Kanglie to the United States. She was born in Paramaribo, Suriname, on the South American continent. Her move to the U.S. at age five provided a much-needed climate change and access to the medical treatment necessary to help with the skin condition, which plagued her as a…
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Maria Rosales – Dominican University
As a young child, Maria Rosales would observe her grandparents or other family members being sick and feel a strong desire to figure out what was wrong and help them get better. “Obviously, as a young kid, I couldn’t [do anything] so I would just research what they had and how it can be fixed,”…
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Mitasha Palha – Macaulay Honors College at Lehman
By the age of three, Mitasha Palha had already touched on four different regions of the world. She was born in Manama, Bahrain to Indian parents who temporarily worked there before moving back to Goa, India. They decided to immigrate to the United States, making a brief layover in South Korea before ultimately settling in…
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Omrie Haynes
Omrie came to the US from Jamaica when he was 1 year old. While undocumented, he worked in restaurants until they found out about his status. After DACA he got a scholarship and at age 27 he is now going to college and has a job in landscaping with benefits.
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Marisela Tobar – Trinity Washington University
For DREAMer Marisela Tobar, persistence has been the key to her success thus far. A nurturing high school environment and an enthusiastic mentor also made the difference. At age five, Marisela came to the United States from San Miguel, El Salvador with her parents and older brother. She says, “My parents wanted us to find…
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Damela Cedelian
By: Rose Bender Lining up her wooden dolls, Damela Cedelian was only seven and living in Haiti when she play-taught her first lesson. Her passion for teaching burns strong as she prepares to enter Miami Dade College, pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education. “The biggest thing we can leave behind is an impact on…
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Cristina Velasquez
When Cristina Velasquez moved to Wisconsin at age 6, she didn’t say a word to anyone in either English or Spanish for months. She was smart. She could read and do arithmetic. But she wouldn’t talk.
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Paola Pardo
There wasn’t enough money for college. After high school, Paola she found a job as a dog groomer. “I never have a bad day at work working with cute puppies all day.”
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Kirssy Martinez
“Then, before I knew it someone called me from school” with news of the scholarship. The deadline was the next day. “Of course, it is like heaven-sent.”
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Yubelkis Matias
Last semester she and her Mom split the cost for accounting classes at Bronx Community College. “When I was going to school, I had to work a lot of hours. I had no other choice.”
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Jose Romero
At church one day he found some people talking about a scholarship “for people in my situation” and checked into it. His grades were good. He qualified for the scholarship.
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Dianeli Mendez
“I tried to encourage my sisters to go to school, and I convinced two of them go back. One of them got her GED. It made me so proud.” Dianeli wants to tell other students, “Don’t be afraid.