ABSTRACT
Jessica was 13 when she came to the United States. She comes from a stable home that gave her a “pretty average, pretty common” childhood growing up. Jessica attended school in Mexico up to the eighth grade and always did well. In the United States, Jessica started second semester of eighth grade. She did not feel school in America was very hard. In high school, Jessica continued to be tracked based on her English-language proficiency and was placed in ESL classes. After high school, Jessica attended community college for a total of six years before transferring to a four-year university. Jessica’s journey to legalization highlights the obstacles and missed oppor-tunities undocumented students endure and underscores the amazing societal contributions they can make if given a pathway to citizenship.
