“The education that I was given throughout high school was great because it opened doors for me to get into college, which I have already done. I’ve been able to get my associate’s in the community college, and I’m so grateful that I was given the opportunity to be able to do something like that. It was a little harder to pay for it, but it was worth it – well, not a little, it was a lot harder, but it was well worth it.”
“I was able to get DACA and I am grateful for it because it has helped me out now in the last 4 years. It has been a great help and I am very, very grateful for it. It did relieve a lot of burdens for sure, as far as going to school and being able to find a job afterward, that was a great burden lifted. Also, being able to buy a car, contribute to the economy, because the more freedom you feel, the more you can contribute to this country. You get to work, you get to buy stuff, you get to contribute in many other ways that people might take for granted and don’t even think about.”
“I can find a career and actually do it. I am a registered radiographic technologist now, and I would like to continue my education in computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Hopefully, I will be able to go back to school and finish those degrees as well.”
“There was a picture that I saw a while back where there is a tree growing, and it has its roots that are painted green, white and red and they have an eagle within it, and at the top it has the rest of the tree, the trunk and the limbs, and they are red, white and blue. It gives the point that your roots were within Mexico, but if you were born or raised in the US, you kind of feel like you are from
both places at the same time, and you
can’t really go without one, because
you feel that your whole family has got that culture within them, but you have also lived within the American culture and it is mine as well. We would all love to contribute to this country and not break up our family -our family is what we have, it is our treasure. For us, that is our main part, our family.”
*Pseudonym, not his real name. Data collected in 2017. Research study conducted by Dr. Laura M. Gonzalez, School of Education, UNC Greensboro
