it's a sin to tell somebody they are a nobody

Recently I happened to hear a speech given by an undocumented student. That is, a student who is putting herself through school, while she is lacking the documents that would allow her and her family to reside legally in the United States. They are, to use a different term, illegal immigrants.

It took this young woman five years to get through a two year program at a community college. Given her legal status she wasn't eligible for any form of financial aid or loans, and her parents were not able to help her financially. To save up money for books and tuition, she took quarters off and worked full time, and more. Then she went back to school until she ran out of money. It takes a lot of tenacity to keep that up for five years. But she did, and now she is transferring to a well known four year college. She is an English major, and, judging from her speech, a gifted writer.

She gave her speech in English and Spanish, intertwining translated paragraphs. She cried when she spoke about the sacrifices of her parents, the gardener and the cleaning woman. She cried when she repeated what they constantly tell her, that "just because we are nobody, doesn't mean that you have to be a nobody".

She said about her parents that, "just because they never went to school, doesn't mean they are not teachers".

For eight years I have taught at a very good private university. I have had more than a thousand students. If I think long and hard I can come up with names of five (5) students who I think would be able to give a speech as eloquent as the one I heard this week.

I am not saying the immigration issue is easy. But I do think that young men and women who work hard for their education should be recognized as the assets that they are. Smart, tenacious, bilingual, and bicultural, isn't that exactly what society needs right now?