Keeping The Dream Alive

THE TIME HAS COME for me to return to college to continue my education and fulfill the DREAM. I am pleased to announce that I have accepted my offer to attend SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY to study Sociology, Ethnic Studies, Business, and Computer Science! My goal is to graduate in 2 years.

As an immigrant and the youngest of 11, it was my parent’s dream for us to attend college in the United States. Unfortunately, none of my siblings graduated from high school because they had to work to support our family. This made me the first in my family to proudly graduate from high school with honors.

Graduating from high school was a bittersweet accomplishment because a year before my graduation I found out that I was undocumented. This news hit me like a ton of bricks because I knew that navigating through life in the United States as an undocumented person was going to be very challenging. What was even worse, my parents had to return to Mexico because of their immigration status and were not there to see me graduate.

My parents decided to self deport to Mexico when I was 15 years old, a decision that pained me, but I understood. I chose to stay in the United States because I wanted to continue my education and I learned that it was possible to enroll in Community College as an AB 540 student (undocumented student). I found jobs that paid cash that helped me cover the cost of my tuition, transportation, housing, and meals. I did this for a year, and then my father was diagnosed with cancer. I dropped out of school to work full-time to not only support myself but also to contribute to my father’s medical expenses in Mexico.

In 2013, I continued college and was eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Since I was protected under the DACA status, a new sense of inspiration and confidence helped me to be more vocal about my needs as an undocumented student. I became president of the Dreamers Club at Cañada College and a peer mentor for other low-income, first-generation college students like myself.

In the fall of 2014, Voto Latino launched a nationwide competition that sought to ignite innovative ideas to solve problems in their community. I pitched an idea to create a mobile app that would allow dreamers all over the country to find scholarships that were tailored to just us. I was trying to build a tool I wish existed when I was in high school. If any dreamer wanted to continue their studies, they would have access to a tool to find the funds that would allow them to pursue their college dream. I won first place in the country and became the founder and CEO of the Dreamers Roadmap App. I soon after found out I was pregnant with my first daughter Eliana so I decided to stop going to school to launch my company and raise my child.

I am proud to share that I have a very bright 6 year old who can write her name and is in love with math and science! I also now have a second little one Alessia Joy who very much lives up to her name and brings me and our tiny pandemic pod lots of joy.

Dreamers Roadmap has helped 40,000+ youth access vital scholarship information. Our users have received information about scholarships, and are sharing their success stories of graduating from college. Most of our users are the first in their family to go to college. Hearing these stories fill me with pride and remind me of my college dreams.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we reinvented Dreamers Roadmap to meet students and families’ unmet needs, many of which were losing jobs overnight and had no other safety net. Within 3 weeks of shelter in place orders, we launched our first campaign #FirstOfTheMonth where we (in collaboration with two other local orgs) raised $2.4 million to help close to 400 low-income and/or undocumented families pay for their rent/mortgage for 3-8 months.

As we did this work, we also realized the need to support farmworker families. In August a couple friends and I launched #Supplies4Farmworkers, my second campaign where we raised funds to provide PPE and other essential items to over 5,000 farmworker California families.

The pandemic and the work I led to support families last year only strengthened my conviction. Walking the fields with farmworkers and hearing their stories reminded me of my parents and the reason they came to this country. “I do this work, so my kids don't have to and so they can go to college and have a better life.” The words of a farmworker mom affirmed why I am here, what I promised my parents, and what I strive to share with my daughters about their full potential.

My path has been different, but it has been an incredible one that I couldn’t have predicted. I will finally achieve my parent’s dream and mine to be the first in our family to graduate from college with your support.

This degree will elevate me professionally to become a better community leader. I look forward to going back to the classroom and learning new things. I appreciate your support and anything that you can contribute.

I am happy to announce that I have a generous matching donor who will help me cover the unmet cost of attendance for next academic year!

Abrazos and Blessings,

Sarahi