Help Diana Achieve Her Dreams- Become a Doctor !

I met Diana and her family when she was 10 years old, around 2003. They were members of Resurrection Catholic Church in Escondido, where I was organizing when I was an organizer with JOB ( Justice Overcoming Boundaries), an interfaith social justice organization. Her entire family and Diana as a young child got engaged with the community organizing efforts, we were leading. She made phone calls, walked precincts to get Latino voters out to vote in the 2006, 2008, 2012 elections. She volunteered for naturalization drives, she organized walk outs for the DREAM ACT and immigrant rights in her high school, all while also helping her family.

Diana is DACAmented, her life has not been easy. Along with the other 700,000 DACAmented young people that have been living in this country with the uncertainty and stressful rollercoaster of the DACA program existing. 

I remember asking Diana what she wanted to be when she grew up, "a doctor," she would say.  Against many odds, Diana has always stayed focused on that dream, all while working to put herself through college and navigating life with the stresses and barriers that her immigration status has presented. 

She graduated from Cal State San Marcos in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences.  On June 19th, 2020 I joined her for her zoom graduation from UCSD's year-long Post Baccalaureate Premedical Program. 

In 2013, several of us chipped in to help her cover her DACA application fees. 

Now, I am asking as many of you as possible to chip in so that we can help Diana raise funds to cover the cost for her to take a 6-8 week MCAT (Medical College Admission Test) preparation course and take the exam in September of this year. 

Data shows that students that take the preparation courses do better on the exams. We know that for low income students who do not have the resources to pay for these preparation courses as well as have the luxury of not working to solely study, are at a disadvantage. 

Kaplan MCAT or Princeton Review MCAT courses cost from $1700-$6,000 based on the elements of the program. 

I am hoping that we can help raise $4,000 to help Diana cover the cost of her MCAT preparation courses as well as have $500 a month for two months to help her with gas, food and other personal essential items.  The hope is that we are able to raise enough funds for her to be able to focus on her courses and preparing to take MCAT exam in Sept., without financial worries.

Please help with whatever amount you are able to. Together we can help Diana continue on her journey to achieve her dreams of attending medical school and becoming a doctor that is committed to serving low income communities of color, as an MD.

ALL PROCEEDS ARE SET UP TO GO DIRECTLY TO DIANA. Please send a message if you prefer to Venmo Diana directly @ Diana-Solano-8