Hi, my name is Silvia Vazquez, but people also call me Patty and I need your help. I am a DREAMer. I am an undocumented student. As an undocumented student I do not qualify for financial aid or government assistance. Through this campaign I am asking for your help to actualize my dream to teach English by making a donation. I was accepted into the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for the fall of 2012. Unfortunately I cannot afford the tuition fee to attend the university. My goal is to raise the $4,700 I need in order to enroll and attend my first quarter in the fall.
I am the daughter of a single mother of three that emigrated from Mexico fifteen years ago to find a better future in America. A better future, as my mother often repeated, meant obtaining an education. Naturally she enrolled us in public schools and encouraged us to do well in our classes. In middle school I was placed in honors classes and in high school I was part of the School for Advanced Studies. After I graduated from high school I enrolled in the Scholar's Program at PasadenaCityCollege. I graduated this spring and was accepted into UCLA as an undergraduate majoring in English.
I intend to teach English at the high school level because of the positive influence which literature has brought to my life. One of my favorite novels is the Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison because I can relate to an extent to the invisibility which Ellison wrote about. When I read the novel in high school, literature became a source of comfort for me. As an undocumented student I often ponder my own invisibility in attempting to live a normal life without a social security number.
Teaching students from low income households to use written words as a tool by which to progress is my dream. Attending UCLA will prepare me with the knowledge and skills to realize this dream. I am inviting you to help me achieve my goals by making a donation through indiegogo or by attending my fundraiser, which I will be hosting at the M Bar on September 7, 2012 beginning at 8 p.m. The M Bar is located at 1846 1/2 E 1st St. , Boyle Heights, CA 90033. If you cannot make a donation or attend my fundraiser, I would appreciate it if you could share my campaign and fundraiser information with friends. Thank you for the help; I really appreciate it!