Undocumented Cal Student Sheds Light On Life In The Shadows
BERKELEY, Calif. -- In the hallways of public universities throughout California, a large, discreet group of undocumented students is struggling to overcome harrowing obstacles by finishing college while living in the shadows of U.S. law.These students are no strangers to living in poverty or constant fear of deportation. But they also have fought to forge their own fate by doing what their parents did not do: graduate from college. Indeed, it is that very tenacity that some educators say makes them ideal students.One of those students, Emily Estevan, has placed her hope for finishing her education in a fragile piece of legislation: the California DREAM Act.Emily (her name has been changed at her request), along with the other 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduating from U.S. high schools every year (40% of whom live in the state of California), is not eligible for any state or federal financial aid to pay for college--a problem for her and others like her, as many come from some of the state's lowest income families."I remember when I first applied to Cal and I got in," she said. "I told my dad that I was really excited, I was crying, I told him I really wanted to go there, and he told me, 'Well, how are you going to go about paying for school, I only make $10,000 a year, which barely is enough to pay for the bills right now."Emily eventually found a way to attend Berkeley: like most of these students, she worked.During her freshman year, she took a job working 20 hours a week and commuted every day from Davis-- four hours