In her own words
Jennifer Fuentes
Imagine a ten-year-old girl running around, having the best time of her life, with her friends as happy as can be. All she knew at that time was always right in front of her. Little did she know it would all change without her foreknowledge or consent. Fifteen years ago, her parents decided to send her, alone, to the United States for a better life and education at the tender age of ten. I am this little girl. Fast forward, and never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined I would be where I’m at today. I am a proudly attending graduate school as a first-generation college student.
The sole purpose of why I’ve chosen to pursue a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy is being undocumented. As an undocumented person, this has brought up many obstacles in pursuing and achieving my dreams for my life. Some disadvantages of my legal status include limited financial resources, being mistreated, and looked down upon, as well as fearing deportation. Despite this, I persevered and didn’t allow my fears and doubts to overwhelm and paralyze me. My motivation to pursue higher education despite the hardships is to become a licensed marriage and family therapist. I want to provide counseling services to people from different cultures and ethnicities as they work through the pain of their loss of safety, security, identity, and wounds of rejection, humiliation, and injustice. The joy of counseling people towards mental health and healing will surpass the pain of the challenges I went through.