Top Grades, and No Papers
The New York State Youth Leadership Council gives undocumented youth a platform to raise their voices and humanize a debate that’s dominated by myths and stereotypes. Here, Berenice tells her story of struggling to excel as a young scholar. Seeking to move onto the next stage of her academic career, she’s realized that her credentials are flawless on paper–except for the papers she lacks. My name is Berenice and I am an undocumented graduate of Columbia University. I got my bachelor’s degree in May 2010. To be honest up until the end of April I was not looking forward to graduation. Rather than being excited I was afraid. For four years Columbia had provided me with a safe and protective environment. However, after graduation all of that protection would be gone. To make matters even worse, even though I had made it this far I would not be able to accept a lab technician position that had been offered to me by my mentor. This was the perfect job for a recent college graduate. Th...