Part Of The DREAM Became REAL
By Jose Luis Zelaya
I am literally in tears as I write, but they are tears of joy and happiness. The idea that I will be able to work as a teacher and have a classroom of my own truly makes me the happiest man alive.
This morning when I listened to the news, my body started feeling weak, like if I was going to faint. I called my mother while crying. I gave her the news and she started praying and thanking God for the news.
DREAMers across the nation have been waiting for this day for a very long time, the day where we are recognized by society and are given the opportunity to serve and give back to our home. There are over 800,000 students who will benefit from this announcement.
Students who want to serve their nation and give back to the country we love so much. Today is a day of celebration, a victory for DREAMers who have worked hard, organized and put pressure on both parties for this day to come. DREAMers are Americans who want to stay in this country and serve their communities. This brave step from president Obama is a right step in the right direction.
I am very honored to be a DREAMer. Things have not being easy, but our hard work organizing, and sleepless nights working and motivating students to go to college is paying off.
As a teacher, I am very happy, because I have the opportunity to teach now. As a DREAMer, I am very joyful to know that my friends and DREAM family are rejoicing across the nation with this great news.
DREAMers are students who were brought to the United States at a young age, and they have done nothing wrong but seek the American DREAM through obtaining an education.
I was the president of the Council for Minority Student Affairs where we helped DREAMers stay motivated to go to college. Many times we felt hopeless and weak, but we knew that we had to keep on fighting to justice. I had the honor to run for student body president at Texas A&M University, and I was discriminated against because of my immigration status. The fact that I now have the ability to become a legal resident gives me the honor and pride to be able to serve without prejudice.
Today DREAMers across the nation rejoice because justice has being done, but we must remember that the fight is not over, in fact, it has just started.
Our communities, families and nation need our service, and if there is one thing DREAMers do well, it is to serve.
Jose Luis Zelaya who was brought to the U.S. by his mother from Honduras when he was 14-years-old, just completed his first semester as a graduate student at Texas A&M with a 4.0 grade point average. NewsTaco wrote about Zelaya when he ran for Student body President at Texas A&M University.
