...and that is who I am

Hey don't laugh but it has taken me a hours to write this intro, after writting one that somehow ended up being 4 pages long I just decided to keep it simple.

Any way, I came here from Colombia when I was 8, my mom having been here a few months already trying to get legalized through my adoptive grandmother. Unfortunately things did not go too well and literally 2 weeks before a single paper had to be signed by her she died of cancer. The inherited money was used to hire lawyers and bring my dad and I to this country as tourists, and the house as a place to permanently stay.

I learned of my status when I was in 5th grade, and if there was any change in how I acted no one could have noticed since that was the year I also got into gifted which meant me being in a class with new people.

At age 13 I started to work in a warehouse, after my dad developed a back problem and could not really work, I had to help him and essentially support my family. I managed to get into a very prestigious schools, and almost did not go there because it boasted in its record of having sent all its students to college ever since it was opened (I did not think college was for me, but was obviously a good enough student, right now I think I used to ignore the complexities of my life by hitting the books).

In high school I took only honors and AP classes where I could, when in Junior I started to get very stressed about the SATs and ACTs, since I did not think it would be possible to me to go to college, I decided to take the last possible of both in order to use the resulting low scores to as a reason of why I would not get into college in senior year. without preparing I got an average score compared to people in my school, and applied to essentially all reach schools and one local school that boasted its ability to accept students when they came to their workshops if they took their ACTs and class information. I really thought that was going the only place I would get accepted to and was going to use it to show people I did got into college. Surprisingly I was denied from MIT and another prestigious place but accepted everywhere else out of the more then a dozen schools (I guess taking internships in an internationally renowned lab might have helped somewhat), I even secured a half scholarship from a private institution in a different state where I knew family with whom I could stay for free.

I am now on my way to become a junior.

On January of this year my sister became a US citizen. A month later after going through 8-10 lawyers eliminating everyone else for a number of reasons, she claimed my parents. The process was supposed to take 9 months but actually took 3, my parents became legal permanent residents, however, a few days before they became residents I turned 21. Now I am the only person in my family with no status, and I am currently waiting in anticipation for the DREAM Act to adjust my status, to be able to get into internships before its too late and really become and enjoy the life of a college student in the manner that it is intended, not by commuting 5 hours each day and becoming a zombie around campus trying to look for a place to rest because I fear driving an hour each way and can't afford to stay closer because I can't work.

-D.G.M.

P.S. I thank whoever came up with this site and thank everyone that has been brave enough to share their stories, experiences and provide ideas and plans, it has certainly helped me and improved my mood in light of the stressful situation. It helps to know that I am not alone.

Interesting life story. Hopefully all goes well and keeps getting better.

Hey..

Keep your head up and do as best as you can in school..

where do you go to school by the way?? are you in california?

Anyway, it is better to do what you can now so that once the Dream Act passes you can move forward fast.

I myself am in a similar situation as you, however I am 4 years older.. so you are still ahead of me.

Good Luck to you

I currently attend school in Chicago, and live in Miami during breaks.

I agree, preparation will be key once the DA passes, and I think by being a member of this community I have learned a lot of small details that I had not known before that may be crucial in order to reach that level of preparation that is necessary to meet the requirements of the proposed DA.

I wish you luck as well.

That really sucks that you turned 21 right after your parents got their green card. You entered the US legally, you can get married and get a green card within 3-4 months, the DREAM ACT isn't your only option.

True, my parents have actually been trying to push that option on me for a while, and they will try harder if the DA does not pass this year.

Another option that they have learned from a lawyer is to claim me, in which case there will be a process in court and i would be able to get a driver's license with the papers that arrive, I would still however be illegal and the process is a couple decades. But the lawyer mention that as soon as my parents get their citizenship I would be able to get legalized in about 3 years, but still... its an 8 year process and that is assuming they learn english which they have not in the past 13 years or will be likely in miami where english is not the common main language.

but yeah, the DA is not my only option, its just the easiest, and safest option at the moment.

I am glad that you posted this story here for us to see. I really do appreciate it. I am glad that you didn't give up on your dream to get into college. You are another student that has proved that it is possible to get in to wherever you want if you have the right mindset(which I could see that you do). You got very unlucky w/your parents/sisters immigration situation, but things will work out eventually! things happen for a reason, as I have been learning to accept. I'm currently waiting to see if my father gets his citizenship so that he can petition for me. I am just going to leave it in God's hands though. He is the one that knows what our path in life is, and if I am meant to be here, then he will provide this opportunity or the DREAM Act. Know that the people in this forum are here to help you out!

Here is something that my dad learned from asking a lawyer. I am assuming that you are waiting for your dad to get his citizenship because he already has a permanent residenceship and there is a five year wait to apply for a citizenship, at least that is the situation with my parents and was for my sister.

I am also assuming that he has not petitioned you because of the multi-decade wait time between petition and residence status from a parent that is just a permanent resident petitioning an adult son/daughter, what my parents heard from this lawyer was that he could petition me right now, and then when he got his citizenship the wait time would be greatly reduced and sort of bumped up to be the same are less then them petitioning me as a citizen. The advantage of being petitioned now and not later is that according to this lawyer one would be able to get a driver's license with the documents that arrive from the petition being placed (as for what document I do not know, I really did not get how it would help, its just one of the other roads we have been looking at if the DA does not pass).

No worries amigo, you'll become a citizen just like the rest of us will. Just give it a bit more time. Now as far as the struggles go, just remember that you got a pair of good legs, eyes, and all of the other critical things which make it easy to take on hard work. Also remember that in most cases, it is the difficult things that yield the highest level of reward. So keep up the hard work and stay optimistic.

Oh man, I didn't know that it could happen that way! And you are right about the whole citizenship situation. I am just waiting for him to get it, and hopefully he does. And if that happens, he can petition for me, and well hopefully things will be cleared up soon, you know? it is always important to have some faith in things though, and just pray that they are going to happen! Hopefully things do happen! I know that one day we will all just think about this situation that we were placed in and be thankful that we had something huge to overcome when we were younger!