If that's not good enough here's mine! Ok so I was brought here legally (meaning I got a visa w my family of four, overstayed the visa, applied for refugee status). I'm from Colombia and we came because we had some close encounters with FARC, my parents got scared so we applied for tourist visas really quick and overstayed. We lived with my aunt(a citizen) for a while until my parents could find work. Growing up I had no idea I was illegal at all. So once my sister finished high school, my parents gave her the bad news that she wouldn't be able to go to college because it was too expensive to pay out of state and she would just need to get some certificates and try to get a job. She worked at a couple restaurants for a while and saved up cash just to pay for one class at a community college. So expensive! She eventually met her boyfriend and now husband at college, married him, and now she's a resident yay! But my parents and I were still stuck. My mom was a house cleaner and my dad was a painter. They tried all they could and they succeeded in making us live a comfortable life here. Unfortunately, they got deported in 2010 after one of our distant aunts called ICE on us. She hated us for some reason and broke up the family. They took my mom, dad, and sister. Released my sister cause she was like umm I'm legal here. I didn't get taken cause I was under 18 at the time and I believe they have some restrictions. So now my sister and I are stuck here alone trying to live by ourselves w her husband. I was feeling hopeless and one day was very close to saying goodbye to America for probably a decade or more. It was horrible knowing the only place I know I had to leave. Anyways, I ended roughing it out. During High school I worked my ass off and got to do duel enrollment so I got to go to college! Yay! But only for my senior year, after I graduated I was hopeless for that summer thinking I'm not gonna do anything useful with my life. Mainly because Florida still had out of state tuition and I couldn't afford that. Thankfully literally two weeks before the end of registration, anyone regardless of status can have in state tuition in Florida if they graduated from high school here. That was a GODSEND. I applied to my community college and took two classes. Time went on, I got a $11 hour job, saved up around 7 grand and started paying for school out of pocket. I'm currently working on getting my computer science degree. I can have my license and work permit thanks to Obamas DACA order. I'm glad I'm finally given the chance of pursuing what I want. I know I was brought here in a way that I shouldn't have been but how could I have known? This is the only place I know to call home and I've been here over 15 years. I know this place has its downfalls and I criticize America a lot for some of its politics but damn is it a great country.