“To be acknowledged for who and what I am. No more, no less. Not for acclaim, not for approval. The simple truth of that recognition. This has been the elemental drive of my existence, and it must be achieved if I am to live or die with dignity.”
Andrew the robot from Bicentennial Man
That is the elemental drive of my existence and the existence of all the other immigrants who have been able to achieve the dream of going to college. All we ask for is the simple truth of recognition. Don’t fault us with the fact that we are not legal, it is not our fault. If we could fix our status, we would. Don’t tell us to go to the back of the line because no line exists. Don’t say that we are not Americans because we are. We are because we chose to be, we were not lucky enough to be born here but we make the best of it by seeking a better life. Ayn Rand said it best, "I chose to be an American. What did you ever do, except for having been born?" That was her answer for someone who asked on why we should listen to a foreigner. I chose to be an American, losing the ties that tied me to my old country. People like me, college students, speak English, show American individualism and resilience by standing strong against all the odds and still making it. And believe me, those odds are great.
We are not going to go away. We want to stay and help the community that helped us in shaping us to be who we are now. Let us do that, that’s all we ask for.
