Christian E.

Brown University
Economics
Illinois

My name is Christian E. and I am an undocumented student at Brown University. I was born in Mexico in 1988. When I was 7 years old, my parents brought me to the United States, illegally, in their search of better jobs. Ever since arriving, I have always felt a sense of separation; of not being equal to everyone else; a feeling of not belonging; and this feeling that I have felt all my life stems from the undocumented status my parents bestowed upon me when they brought me to this country.

Back in Mexico, I had a good life and had been the brightest student in my class. Here for about $7.50 an hour, my parents provided me with a good life but this life didn’t feel right. At school, I faced problems from not being able to speak English. Consequently, I was no longer the brightest or smartest student at school. Instead, I was often mocked by the other kids for failing to pronounce certain words or for being “weird” in dress and appearance because of my socioeconomic background. Growing up, I oftentimes wondered why my parents had brought me to the US when I had been happy back in Mexico.

Around the time I was in 6th grade, my parents got divorced. Not long after, my Dad was arrested on a charge of D.U.I., was sent to prison, and then shortly after, deported to Mexico, where he has been since. Because of this, my mom raised my younger brother and I, alone.

In high school, I took up track and field because I enjoyed long distance running. I turned out to be an immensely gifted at it: I had the ability to run exceedingly fast for very long amounts of time. As the years went by in high school, I received good grades and won great races across the state of Illinois. By the time I was a senior, I had a good GPA and a great ACT score and had managed to break every single long-distance running record my school had. But although I was achieving a lot in my academic life, at home, my life was not all right.

The day I won the state championship, I brought home the 1st-place medal and beamingly handed it to my mom, who said, “What’s this? Can this earn you wages? Can this help your family out?” and as much as I cared to not let her words bother me, I couldn’t help to think that she was truly right. Instead of working and helping my mom pay the bills, I was chasing false hopes and dreams; dreams that were vague and uncertain; dreams that would most likely never get me anywhere because of my status as an undocumented student.

In the fall of my senior year of high school I began to apply to colleges. I had little hope of being accepted to any university, for as far as I knew, I did not exist in the United States: I lacked a social security number and citizenship. When spring came around, I received many college letters explaining to me that they could not accept me because of my lack of a social security number. Many universities understood that I was an undocumented immigrant though, and were willing to help me. One of these schools was Brown University and it welcomed me into its class of 2010.

Since then, I have made Brown proud. I have led the cross country and track and field teams for three years placing 16th, 9th, and recently 2nd at the Ivy League Cross Country championships (a race that holds 130 of the best varsity runners in the Ivy League); I’ve placed 10th in the Northeast Regional; and have also qualified to the NCAA championships (being the first in five years that Brown sends to the championships).

Academically speaking, I am nearly done with my economics degree and this I have done through much diligence and perseverance. One of the reasons I have pursued this field is to understand the economic impact that immigrants have on this country. One of my dreams is to study economics in graduate school.

Being at Brown has given me the chance to take a wide variety of classes and learn from excellent professors. Here, my thoughts and ideas have been challenged and have evolved as I’ve grown older. I couldn’t be happier. At the same time, I can’t help but feel sad about my uncertain future. One day I will graduate and nothing will await me. After spending my life trying to succeed as a student and an athlete, the country I call home, the United States, will still not want me even though I wish I were given a chance to pursue my dreams.

In Providence, I have found undocumented students like me with the dream to become citizens or attend college. In tears, they have told me, “What’s the point of all the work that I am doing if I’m never going to go to college?” It has been hard to not be sad at times about all that I have had to face to be where I am today, but one way to fight for my dreams and the injustice I feel is to seek out and help other dreamers like me.

My vision is that one day all immigrant students will have equal access to higher education; they will not be discriminated against based on their immigration status, and collectively, they will realize their full potential. One way to get to this dream is through the DREAM Act.