By Juan Mascorro-Guerrero, SAA 2020
In 2018, I chose to embark on graduate schoolat Michigan State University. I knew my purpose was to help undocumented youthnavigate higher education and that I could accomplish this with the skills and networkthat I would acquire from the Student Affairs Administration program. What Ididn’t realize was that attending Michigan State University (MSU), apredominantly white institution and with practically no measures to supportundocumented students, would be difficult, even as a recipient of the DeferredAction for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. In 2012, I went from being fullyundocumented to being partially undocumented; I could now legally work, drive,and attend college. With this, you would think that navigating employment atMSU would not be a problem. Unfortunately, I faced several challengesthroughout my two years at MSU all of which revolved around my ability tolegally work for the university. It got so bad that in February of 2019 I foundmyself unemployed. How could this happen? MSU claims that diversity is powerand that building inclusive communities is a core value, so why had I been letgo from my job?
It was approximately 5:25 PM, I had justfinished an appointment with a student when my supervisor walked into our openspace, where all student employees worked, and asked to talk to me in thehallway privately. As I stood up and walked out of the room my anxiety kickedin, what had I done wrong? My supervisor explained that I could no longer workfor the department because Human Resources had reached out stating I wasconsidered an international student and could only work 20 hours. He explainedthat my assistantship was considered 20 hours and because of that I could nolonger work a second job on campus. As he explained this to me, I just noddedwith my head without much expression, I was trying to be the “tough”undocumented person my parents had raised me to be. However, I was devastated,not only because this was an income that I relied on but because I wasembarrassed; I was asked to leave my job while my coworkers were around. Atthis moment I realized that as a future practitioner I would never handle asituation with a student employee like this EVER.
It did not make sense to me that I was allowedto work for a month before I was asked to leave. Clearly, something systematicwas off. Per MSU policy, domestic students can work 29 hours on campus. Havingbeen raised in Michigan since the 3rd grade, I definitely was a domestic student.This meant that I could work 9 hours at my second job, as I was doing. I am notand do not consider myself an international student, but even this group ofstudents could apply to extend their work hours from 20 to 29. It seemed like Iwas the only one who could not surpass 20 hours. I honestly did not know whatto do, so after some guidance my cohort mate, Kaylena Becker and I reached outto Dr. Marin, a faculty member in the SAA program. I remember being in awe ather email response that was LITERALLY within 5 minutes of my email. I couldtell she wanted me to win this fight. Dr. Marin provided me resources andmotivated me to advocate for myself. I used her advice, reached out to severalpeople and after two weeks was able to return to my job and work my 9 hours.¡Yo había ganado la lucha!
This experience motivated me to help changethings at MSU; I want MSU to be more undocumented student friendly. So I sharedmy experience during a meeting with the board of directors and became the firstgraduate student advisor for dreaMSU, a student organization that advocates formore inclusive policies for immigrant and undocumented communities at MSU. As aresult of the strength and dedication of every student in this organization,MSU recently created a website for undocumented students. While this is justthe start, I know things will only get better! I will no longer be a bystanderat MSU, I will change things!
To any future students in the SAA program, donot be afraid to ask for help. Your cohort mates bring a wealth of knowledgeand want to help, you just have to ask for it! The faculty are not only yourprofessors, but they also serve as a resource to you; they want you to besuccessful because they know you WILL be successful!
To any future DACA or undocumented students,you are welcome on campus at MSU. If you need support, please do not hesitateto reach out to your faculty member or dreaMSU for support. Last but not least,keep on dreaming and your dreams will come true!