During her senior year,
Carla would go to school from 9 a.m. until 2:30 in the afternoon, then
she would work from 3 in the afternoon until 11 at night and only then
start her homework. In August 2012, Carla began her studies at the University of Texas,
San Antonio, obtaining a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. A
student like Carla, who is undocumented, did not qualify for Federal
Government assistance. It meant there was no Pell grant to help her pay
for college or a Federal loan to help her pay for college. She had to
work to earn the money to pay her way through school. Something which
many people would shrink away from, she accepted the reality of being
undocumented in America. Because she was ineligible for financial aid,
she worked to support herself, and she often had to choose between food
and buying books. During college, Carla was also an officer in a number of
organizations, including the Society of Women Engineers. She was a
College of Engineering Ambassador, which means she had to maintain a
very high GPA at the University of Texas. During her summers, Carla
interned at Alpha Testing and the San Antonio Water System while she
also worked as an engineering camp counselor. In August of 2016, Carla was the first DACA recipient to study abroad
with the University of Texas at San Antonio's Education Abroad Program. She studied in as part of the first group of students to participate in
the Urbino, Italy, civil engineering program. Because she couldn't get financial aid, studying abroad was more
difficult for her than the other students who were part of the program.
Keywords matched
undocumented DACA