"No dream is too big," DACA recipient shares her story
Welcome to our first post for 2023. We wish all our LHCC family and friends a healthy and prosperous New Year. Our blog today was written by Karole Pelcastre Avilez and shared with permission of the López family, and features one of our college students and volunteers, Jessica García López. We are so proud and honored to know her and your fabulous family, who have been a big part of the LHCC family for over four years. Here goes.
Stories of overcoming limitations we face inspire us to improve day by day, to not give up, and to never stop pursuing our dreams in the face of adversities that may arise. Life can be full of obstacles, but when there is a will, you can overcome any difficult test that comes your way. Those are the teachings that the story of Jessica García López leaves us.
Jessica was born in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, she came to the United States at the age of four. She along with her family settled in Charlotte, which now holds a very special place in their hearts. Here is where all of Jessica's dreams and the desire to achieve them was born.
“The city of Charlotte is full of opportunities to grow, I love this city so much that I decided to stay here to complete my university studies and make a difference in the community,” Jessica said in an interview for La Noticia.
Who is Jessica Garcia Lopez?
She is the oldest sister of three, and therefore she understood her responsibility to set the example for her younger sisters from a young age. In her dedication, she went to college, no matter the obstacles she faced along the way. When she felt discouraged, she found her inspiration in her family to see her make great sacrifices so that she could fulfill her purpose. “My little sisters were born here, so they can get help more easily, but I still want to teach them that if I can overcome the limitations that society has placed upon me, they can overcome any obstacle that comes their way,” Jessica commented.
Jessica is a senior at Queens University of Charlotte, double majoring in Biology and Spanish. She has big plans of going to medical school and become a family physician or working in internal medicine. “I was one of those kids who went to public health centers with their parents to receive our vaccines at a more affordable price and also having to translate for my parents when they didn’t understand the procedures at the clinic,” remembered Jessica.
Jessica's Overcoming the Obstacles she faced
Jessica is a native speaker of Spanish, so when her and her family moved to the United States, she had to learn to speak English. Once Jessica started elementary school, she quickly adapted to the language and later started to speak it fluently. From a young age, Jessica overcame her first big hurdle of the language barrier. “I remember when we came to the United States, I had to learn to speak English, it wasn't easy because my parents didn't know the language, so they couldn't help me with my schoolwork,” Jessica highlighted.
Thanks to her dedication, she did quite well academically, she got good grades, and even became involved in a lot of community service. In the last two years of high school, her world began to change as she began to realize that she was different from the rest of her classmates in terms of the possibilities that surrounded her to go to college.
She soon realized that society had placed a label on her because of her immigration status. However, that did not stop her from searching for a door to open up. In her attempt to find options to pay for college, she attended talks and workshops that would help guide her, but she was always left with doubts and the knowledge that she could not fill out special forms because she needed some requirement that she did not have. “No one knew about my situation other than my family and my loved ones very close to me. I was a little bit afraid of how people would react because there are times when people start to see you differently because of your immigration status," Jessica commented.
The opportunity DACA gave Jessica to start dreaming
Jessica’s childhood was filled with love and experiences that prompted her to pursue the dream of becoming a doctor. She tells us that going to public clinics to receive the necessary medical services help inspire her dream of becoming a doctor. She wants to help the Latino community that has problems with the English barrier, just as she did. Furthermore, she wants to be able to make a difference in the community by facilitating the consult visits and making sure she is providing the appropriate services her patients’ needs. “I decided to double major in Biology and Spanish because of the experiences I have lived. I want to be able to help the Latino community that needs to understand the procedures that are going to be performed on them. Therefore, I want to use everything in my power to be able to help and make a difference in the community,” she told us.
Jessica is a beneficiary of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which was created by former President Barack Obama in 2012. Thanks to DACA, undocumented students who met certain requirements were allowed the opportunity to have a work permit, a driver's license, and protection from deportation. DACA has opened the doors for Jessica to get an internship in a medical office, as well as the opportunity to work as a nursing assistant in a hospital and have a driver's license. This is of great advantage to her because she is learning and gaining experience from working in the medical field and having practice with different patients. This motivates her every day to keep working hard for her dream of becoming a doctor.
“DACA has helped me tremendously because I am able to do many things that many others cannot do. This pushes me to work through my hard days from work or school when I feel discouraged. However, DACA recipients are still in limbo about what could happen, so I try to stay away from the news because I know that if I see it, I will be discouraged,” Jessica expressed.
Using her story to inspire others
Jessica isn't just a DACA recipient, but also a Golden Scholar. She recalled that in the interview with the scholarship founder, Rick Elias, she was nervous, but for the first time she was opening up to tell her story. She had a little voice in the back of her head that would tell her she was going to be able to obtain the scholarship. “I remember going to a talk about the Golden Door Scholarship with my mom, and a guy from the first cohort spoke. He inspired me with his story to keep fighting for my dreams. I remember my mother's words, that she told me that this scholarship was going to be for me and that she knew that we would do everything possible to help me get it,” she told us.
Two weeks later, Jessica found out that she had been selected for the scholarship. She was very happy and grateful for the opportunity that Golden Door gave her. She was able to stay in Charlotte to finish her college studies at Queens University of Charlotte. During her college experience, she became very involved on campus. This hardworking Latina has served as the president of the Latin American Student Organization (LASO), which has the purpose of representing and teaching Queens students about different Latin American cultures. She also does community service at Learning Help Centers of Charlotte. To Jessica, giving back to the community is extremely important, and she wishes to continue to do so for the rest of her life.
Jessica wants to use her story to inspire other students who are living under the same limitations, that with hard work and perseverance, you can achieve any goal you set your mind to. She urges students to never give up, because everyone can achieve their dreams if they are willing to work hard. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, I am possible. It is the phrase that keeps me standing”, Jessica concludes.
Thank you for reading and may God bless you and yours this year!
Brent M, LHCC January 2023
