Fences

Today in the LA Times there's an article about the Fence Project. It's amusing to me that a government seriously believes, likes to believe or pretends to believe that a wall will discourage people from coming to the U.S. This project is a waste of money first of all. Second, has this government learned nothing from history? Actually they've proved time and again that they really haven't learned anything from history, as a government anyway.

No wall is going to stop a desperate person from getting what they need. This desperate person is a father or a mother in search of a better life for their family. A wall is the last thing that is going to deter them, these people have lived through things worse than material obstacles. If jobs were available to them in their own countries they wouldn't risk their lives, but not only is there a lack of employment. There's a lack of opportunity for prosperity and security.

A wall is not the solution to this problem. This is like sticking a band-aid on a viral infection. No one take offense to this, I am not calling immigrants viruses. I simply want to illustrate that there is a bigger issue there and every solution the government has come up with is a temporary cover-up. To soothe the tranquility of the extreme conservatives and everyone else who is blindly afraid of immigration and the people forced into this.

Think about it. Discuss it.

A Day for Thanks

Well here I am sitting in front of the computer, cutting and pasting images for flash cards to study for a lab practicum while logging onto facebook. A great friend I had the pleasure of meeting last year posted about how this time last year she was celebrating Thanksgiving with my family and I. She was telling us about the World Cup games in South Africa (that's where she's from) and she'd met some guys that spoke Spanish and they taught her to say some obscenities (because that is always the best thing to learn in foreign languages of course, telling people off haha). She wasn't pronouncing the phrase quite right and my parents kept trying to figure out what she was saying until they finally realized what it was and they were just cracking up for the longest time, I had no chance of ever figuring out what she was trying to say - I have little experience with profanity in Spanish, I'm not trying to play innocent here, I just don't use Spanish to tell people off. Point is, it just hit me.

Today, this Thanksgiving 2011 is the first Thanksgiving to be celebrated being truly free in the country of the free. There's so much running through my head sometimes it's a little overwhelming but all in all being where I am today, makes me so insanely happy.

Those of you who have followed me through this blog or life know this means the world to me. It is Life. I have it. I am thankful. For my family. My Life.

MUCH LOVE!!!

Holy canoli!

It's been a while since I've had anything legislatively relevant to undocumented immigration. Yes life is definitely sweeter on the other side. I ran into some great news!

As of today, undocumented immigrants in the state of California will have access to state-funded financial aid! Today, Governor Brown signed AB 130, this means anyone attending a Cal State or University of California (on January 1, 2012 or after) will have access to financial aid actually being able to consider taking advantage of AB540 which states that if as an undocumented student you have attended at least 3 years of high school you can pay in-state-tuition. California is now one of the few states allowing access to in-state financial aid to undocumented immigrants along with New Mexico and Texas.

To the critics, AB540 sounded preposterous saying that this would give undocumented/undeserving individuals access to higher education. How is anyone undeserving of education? That's not the point, point is even with access to in-state-tuition it was still pretty much impossible to attend any of these institutions. Keep in mind that undocumented immigrants can't legally work and their parents are most likely nannies, gardeners or something along the unregulated fields of work. Remember that the only reason I was able to attend UCSB was because I had been fortunate enough to have met an amazing couple in my first years of education here who co-signed a loan for me.

If anyone out there has any questions about this please feel free to comment below or message me and I will do everything I can to help you out. Congratulations to those of you who have won a little more access to your promising future! I know that if I had had this news while going to school or looking toward my college years it would've taken a huge load off my shoulders.

MUCH LOVE!!!

Life Update

That news had to be on it's own, I have other topics I'd love to share with you.

Apparently I've been at SMC for so long I have accumulated enough units and high enough grades to be invited to the honor society. Keep in mind I have been taking classes there since I was a freshman in High School. Big woop! I have a Bachelor's it would be kind of embarrassing if I didn't get it haha. So I got that a couple days ago, it really was a surprise because I don't really try to be a part of the SMC community, just the sub-culture of my individual classes.

ALSO this Tuesday was my last day of training and tomorrow is my first full day of work at the best second job anyone could have. I not only found a job in this tumultuous economic environment, but I got a job with one of the most respected companies in the world.

The gifts this grandiose life is giving me are everything I've ever wanted (some I could not have imagined) and I am looking forward to what awaits.

MUCH LOVE!!!

JACKPOT!!!

Greenie was the ultimate jackpot, but like I said before none of this feels real . . . UNTIL NOW . . .

I HAVE A DRIVERS LICENSE/CA ID!!!!!!

It is insane to think about how powerful and meaningful this piece of plastic is. From the minute a person gets their Residency and a State Government issued identification you rise to a higher tier of existence. A higher tier of existence . . . how sad is that? We are all human beings yet so not equal (The equal part should be in quotation marks).

I've got so much love it makes me dizzy

The Real Life

Not so real yet but I'm certainly getting a great taste for what this new life is going to be like. Today I woke up at 5:30, tried to catch the bus, it made me late but I got saved by a new friend that works with me and actually lives really close to me. It's crazy how easy it is to wake up early when you've got something to look forward to. Just like when my parents took me to Disneyland when I was a kid I'd be up at 4am ready to go! I'm going to be living this constantly . . . I have not felt like this in a very long time, since high school basically. Not this powerful and motivated and excited anyway. Not saying I didn't love college but it became a struggle after a while of seeing no change with this whole residency thing - living an uncertain life takes a toll on an individual with a lot of spirit. BUT I'M BACK!

I know I keep saying how lucky I am to have the people I have in my life, but some people sometimes just surprise you. This one particular person is going to become my mentor at this new job, I know it already. The willingness of this person (I wish I could tag people in my blogs bc he needs to know I will make sure he knows how much he is changing my life). The willingness of this individual to help me is just amazing, and it's inspiring. He was telling me he was asked about me after my interviews and what kind of role he thought I would take in the store, and he had it right. It took me three days to figure out what I want to work towards but he knew right off the bat.

I cannot finish saying how thankful and lucky and yes, blessed I am to be in these shoes. You may already be tired of hearing it, but I would change nothing about my life. There's no such thing as the perfect life, but learning from everything life throws at you is what it's all about. Recognizing the value of every circumstance, it's so easy -I am chuckling inside as I write this- to talk about not wanting to change anything I've lived so far but I can tell you that while I was going through it I wanted it to end. Not life, just the hardship. Such a bittersweet experience, but I see the value in it now and that is all that matters.

I will stop rambling on, thank you for reading and caring.

MUCH LOVE!!!!

iLife

Interested in what that second interview I had was with? I went through four rounds of interviews with Apple. I had my last interview two days ago, and the very next day I got called with a job offer! Today I accepted that offer from Apple as a Specialist. Yea I've only been with Niketown for about month and a half, but with being awesome comes great responsibility and I must move on to bigger and better things.

Working this short time with Niketown I learned how imperative it is for me to have a job that requires a brain. I could not have lasted much longer at Niketown, obviously had I not had another job offer I probably would've stayed with them just to finish out the year until I leave for grad school.

Today was such an eventful day. I also had to go to the DMV because the temporary driver's license I'd been given was expired. I learn so much everyday. At the DMV I learned that someone with Permanent Residency isn't supposed to be given a Temporary Drivers License, they should be given an Interim Driver' License. That's what I was given today. The person that helped me today noticed that my paperwork with the DMV wasn't filled out properly and the reason I have yet to get my real driver's license is because the expiration date on my permanent residency wasn't filled out which made it more difficult to verify the credibility of my Residency. How ridiculous huh? Long story short, I'll be receiving my real driver's license in 2-3 weeks.

Life is blowing my mind these days, I could not be happier right now. I've said this before but what's happened to me is not just happening to me, it's happening to my parents and my brother too. That just makes this whirlwind of happiness that much more valuable and meaningful and the most amazing thing I could be feeling right now.

I LOVE LIFE SO INTENSELY.

MUCH LOVE!!!!!!

In the News

So now that I'm free and fabulous I've had no time for the news . . . I apologize but you know what, my mom keeps me in check. Obviously these immigration issues are still very important for my family.

There was a report in the news about Obama's announcement of the halting of deportations. Keep in mind these are deportations that have already been served. This means that people who have deportations may have them cancelled and have a real decision taken on their case. Very promising news for those facing one of the most stressful processes of immigration. Obviously a deportation is more like a final notice, but as we all know that wasn't the case for me.

I found an article reporting on this, much better than I can:
White House: We Will Halt Some Deportations

I'll post separately on personal business :)

The Free and Employed Life

wowzers I can't believe it's almost going to be a month since I started working. I have had the most amazing summer of my life.

I must say it was a tad challenging not becoming totally committed to this first job, about a week ago I got called in for interviews with two other places I had applied to. I went to one interview, they decided to go with someone else. The second place I am still waiting for the interview to happen because I couldn't make it to the last group interview session they had.

School is starting up in three weeks, it's all so exciting. I'm going to sign up for the GRE soon and obviously start to prepare for it would be a great idea.

This whole thing still feels like a very temporary thing. I'm actually still waiting for the permanent driver's license to arrive.

Hope life is going great for all of you.

MUCH LOVE!!!

Officially Job Offer

I got the job offer about two hours ago. My working life begins tomorrow!!!

Rookie Camp 8:30-4:30, woo!

Cheers to life!

MUCH LOVE!!!