Past Participants Praise of the CMSC's Independent Dreamer Study Abroad Program
Courtesy of Raymundo Sollano - Alumni | Apr. 2, 2024 | Photo Courtesy of Raymundo Sollano
A Successful Rollercoaster Journey to my Homeland
In 2001, my mom, my brother Gabriel and I embarked on a journey to re-unite with my dad in the United States. It had been more than 3 years since I had not seen my dad, but it seemed like a lifetime. I can say time without my dad made me mature faster; I had to learn to care for my little brother at 6 years old and by the time I was 9 years old, I knew my little brother looked up to me as somewhat of a father figure.
The day we re-united with my dad, my little brother hid behind me and referred to me as ‘pa’, as the only dad he had ever known. My dad had moved to the United States shortly after my little brother was born to chase our American Dream.
When we settled in the United States in 2001, it was a tough first year. We moved to a house and did not own any furniture. Our family of 4 shared two small single-sized beds. Nevertheless, we felt fortunate to be together as a family. We all had to learn our new way of life; new school, new friends, new neighbors, new language, a whole new experience. Our family of 4, soon became 5 with the addition of my youngest brother.
Thanks to my parents' hard work, they raised us to become self-sufficient and independent individuals. My brothers and I worked hard through school, and with our parents' support, we earned scholarships and were able to attend college. My sibling and I, all graduated from California State University, Long Beach.
I learned about the CMSC through social media, and quickly began my application in the Summer of 2023, hoping to join the IDSAP program in the Fall.
The staff at CMSC guided me every step of the way with the process. They always took their time to address my concerns, no matter the time or day, someone was always there to reply to my messages.
My approval for Advance Parole took longer than usual and to be honest, I was very discouraged when the time kept fluctuating between 2 weeks to 5 months for an approval. The big news came in early January 2024, after CMSC contacted USCIS to put pressure on my application approval.
I traveled to Cuernavaca, Morelos in early March with my youngest brother who is a U.S. citizen and had never been to Mexico. I re-united with family members that I had not seen in more than 20 years. It was an emotional rollercoaster. I was excited to see my beloved family once again, but also sad since I had not been able to grow up in my home country. However, it was comforting to re-visit all my favorite spots during my stay in Mexico. I got to meet all the new faces of my extended family, my cousins now have small families of their own and we could not stop browsing through all of our childhood pictures. I ate lots of food in various parts of Cuernavaca, I danced to "El brinco del Chinelo" which is the traditional dance in Morelos. I met Dra. Esther Alonso, who showed me around Mexico City and taught me about the Mexican Revolution. We discussed how some of my ancestors had been part of the revolution.
Crossing back into the United States was nerve wrecking. I didn't know what to expect, and I had never experienced secondary inspection.
However, the CMSC staff had provided enough information which helped me stay calm throughout the process.
Thanks to CMSC, I was able to travel to my home country and re-live my childhood memories.
It was comforting to see all the alumni that had already travelled and know that the staff have also participated in the same program.
