EDUCATORS FOR FAIR CONSIDERATION (E4FC)

Home

About Us

E4FC's Theory of Change

What We Do

Film about E4FC

E4FC in the News

Newsletter Archive

Our Team

Staff and Consultants

Leadership Council

Join Us

FUSE

FUSE 2016 Grantees

FUSE FAQs

FUSE Supporters

Immigrant Superheroes

Gallery

Submission Form

Inclusion & Change Group

Immigrants Rising

Invest in the Dream

Invest Overview

Invest FAQs

Invest 2017 Report

Invest 2016 Grantees

Invest 2015 Grantees

Invest 2014 Grantees

Scholarship Prov Resource

Legal Services

Get Free Legal Help!

Glossary of Legal Terms

Community Education

About Community Education

Presentations Overview

Request a Presentation

Events Calendar

Pre-Health Dreamers

Scholars Program

Scholars Overview

Scholars Instructions

Scholars FAQ

2017 Scholars

2016 Scholars

2014 Scholars

2013 Scholars

2012 Scholars

2011 Scholars

2010 Scholars

2009 Scholars

2008 Scholars

Resources

Earning a Living

Paying for College

Resources for Educators

Legal Resources

Policy

Arts and Creativity

Donations

How to Make a Donation

2017 Donors

2016 Donors

2015 Donors

2014 Donors

2013 Donors

Contact Us

Empowering undocumented young people to achieve educational and career goals


STUDENT VOICES
IMMIGRATION STORIES


Name

It is always prefaced with "I know I'm going to butcher this." Almost always a pause. There, that didn't sound half bad.

JIR-A-YUT. With each syllable, I see the debt collectors waiting outside the gates of our home in Thailand. My parents' faces agonized as they fought over what to do and where to go next. It seemed like there was no escape.

JIR-A-YUT. With each syllable, I return to that one-bedroom apartment in Milpitas where my brother, sister, and I crammed into the bedroom while my parents slept in the living room -- right next to the kitchen and dirty shoes.

JIR-A-YUT. With each syllable, I relive each time I had to ask others to repeat themselves as I tried to absorb and use as much English as I could.

JIR-A-YUT. With each syllable, I call Dr. Jose Cueto, my mom's gynecologist; to describe the sharp pains she still had months after surgery. There was no other Thai translator.

JIR-A-YUT. With each syllable, I remember why I must step forward. More than just a remnant of my past, I cling on to my name through the most desperate of times. I see the goals I have yet to reach -- they are in sight. I know how to change this. I will get scholarships, I will graduate, and I will become a doctor.

JIR-A-YUT. Perseverance, persistence, "long fighting".


About the Author

Jirayut is one of E4FC's 2010 Scholars. He emigrated from Thailand to the United States when he was 9 years old. Throughout high school, he worked over 30 hours a week to save money for college. He also volunteered regularly at the Sacramento Food Bank. His perseverance and hard work earned him recognition as an AP Scholar With Distinction and the honor of being his class salutatorian. An aspiring medical doctor, New is now a junior at UC Berkeley majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Throughout college, he has been able to maintain a 3.7 GPA while being involved in groups such as the Thai Student Association and the Asian American Medical Student Association.



Back to Stories and Poems