Category: 1,000 miles
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Hey, World: I Am Immigrant and I Graduated College
In the spring of 2012, I unpacked bags and sat on a bed I shared with my mother, a bed inside a room rented through a former friend in the Falls Church area. I had returned from my first year at a small liberal arts school, Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. I had returned…
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1,000 miles: step 79
The fall semester is now over. I have submitted “finals,” known as projects to the English major. Grades are coming in. I have gaps of time–yes, time. It has all gone by so fast. This semester I made a savvy choice, and I took all poetry classes: a small-sized workshop, a course taught in Spanish,…
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1,000 miles: step 78
Alright. Reader, I’ll let you know what I did last summer, this past summer in fact. It’s called summer camp. I don’t believe I’ve ever had a summer like this one. It was fun and jarring every day. I have some experience with kids at the middle school classroom level, so I know that any…
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1,000 miles: step 77
Dear reader, I’m still here. My summer is concluding–next Monday is yet another college term, with the happy knowledge that I’m ever SO close to graduating. I keep telling myself that but 2017 is my year. These past weeks, I’ve been writing less, reading less, which is not how my summer started. But who can write…
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1,000 miles: step 76
Lately, I’ve had to slow down. The spring semester is over. I knew a couple of the graduating seniors–thanks to (a short-lived) student writing adventure, so this was the first semester that I paid attention to graduations. Next year is also my graduating year. I started college fall 2011. Twists and turns have pushed me…
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1,000 miles: step 75
I find primaries and elections emotionally difficult. I find a lot of things emotional, okay? But here’s why: I’ve been 18 and up for three years now but I can’t vote. Voting is another of those reminders of what privileges I don’t have because I’m still an immigrant. I hate conversations in election years because…
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1,000 miles: step 74
Friday morning found me wondering if kids should’ve gone to school. By evening, I started to believe. The East Coast is covered in snow and Jonas just keeps going. Yesterday, I cancelled my in-home students and made the best call. Driving is not an option with the wind and feet of snow. My Honda Civic…
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1,000 miles: step 73
I am thrilled to say that the 2015 semester is over and next year… I will reach senior status at school! The finish line is ever so close. I thought about quitting several times, usually at the beginning of the semester. The expenses too great. Now, things haven’t gotten easier and tuition no less expensive……
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1,000 miles: step 72
Today I was reminded that I have… a blog! One of the students I work with remembers me mentioning this blog way back-long-ago. It comes as a surprise to me that my young students DO listen and retain the oddest things. I know I’m still very young myself, but it often feels like they’re getting…
Claudia Rojas 