Coming to the United States at age one from Mexico and growing up in Chicago with my family, my driving force started very young. As a top student attending Chicago’s Curie High School, it was always my dream to attend college, but others had different opinions about my future.
I wanted to apply to college, and I was told no by various people. They said I should settle for working as a cashier or an employee in a grocery store because I was an immigrant. I was an undocumented immigrant at that time, but now I have my residency. People told me I wasn’t going to go very far or even go to college because I didn’t have a social security number. That really angered and frustrated me. I used that energy to locate resources at nonprofit organizations, and those contacts told me about scholarship opportunities. I was 15 years old at the time.