Why I Chose UCI

“Life has an odd way of making things work out in the end. “

As I look back at my senior year in high school, I wish I could tell myself that everything would work out perfectly fine. That was the year that I first realized how being undocumented would present me with obstacles my peers wouldn’t have to face. As I learned about the resources that were and were not available to me because of my status, I knew that I had to apply to colleges that would offer the most supporting environment for me. 

I actually had no idea UCI even existed until I saw it on the UC application. I was intrigued, and immediately started researching it. I fell in love with the campus, specifically the fact that there was a giant park in the middle of campus. UCI also had several majors that interested me, like sociology, education, and psychology.

However, the main reason that I ended up applying was because of the resources available to undocumented students. I found out about UCI’s Dream Center and the programs they had available like the Dream Scholars Program and SAFIRE. At my high school I only knew of two other people that were undocumented, but it was something we did not talk about. So I knew that in college I wanted to have a community of people who were in a similar situation as me. 

As spring rolled around, I visited the campus and automatically knew that that was where I belonged. As soon as I got home from my visit to Irvine, I quickly submitted my SIR (statement of intent to register).

Now I am in my fourth year here, and I can honestly say that I would not be the person I am today without the experiences I have made at UCI.