Ivonne Perez is a 20-year-old Mexican student who moved to the United States in 2005 from Mexico and has since overcome barriers to pursue her dreams. She put her dancing dreams aside when she moved to be with her family and had to adapt to a new country and culture, struggling to learn English. Though she faced obstacles like not having legal status that prevented opportunities like getting a driver's license, she was accepted to college with a full scholarship and was able to get legal status through DACA. She found her calling in religion and now helps her community by teaching GED classes and opening a program to help women who have faced challenges.

1. "Her perseverance andattitudemake heraunique individual.She embodieswhatitmeansto
be kindand serve God.She'ssimplyamazing,"saysIvanPereztodescribe hisfiancée,Ivonne Perez,
takingcare to place emphasisonthe word‘amazing’.The amazingIvonne Perezisa20-year-oldMexican
studentwho,since movingtothe UnitedStatesin2005, has beentakingdownbarriersandpursuingher
dreams.
Ivonne wasborn inTlalpan,MexicoonNovember1,1994. In 2005, she movedhere withhermother
and heryoungerbrotherto start a newlife thatshe at firstdidnot wishtoembarkon.In Mexico,
Ivonne'slife wasgoingaccordingtoplan;she had reallyhighgrades;andshe wasabout to be part of La
Escolta,is whichiscomprisedof a groupof studentswhohave the highestgradesinthe school andwho,
on everyMonday,have the privilege of holdingthe MexicanFlagandmarchinginfrontof the school.If
youbecome part of La Escolta,that meansyouhave achievedthe highesthonorthatyoucouldbe
awarded.Ivonne starteddancingsince the young age of 6; this was,and still is,ahuge part of herlife.
Before herfamilydecidedtomove tothe USA, Ivonne wasinformedof adecision thatcouldhave
changedherlife,she soonwasgoingto start dancingprofessionally.However,there were clearlymany
reasonswhyshe didnot wantto leave herlife inMexicotostart all overagain.At the same time,she
knewthatshe wantedherwhole familytobe together.She putherdreamsaside tostart a new life ina
countrythat was foreigntoherand to beggingalife thatshe didnot have planned.
Her newlife beganinCaliforniawhereshe livedforonlyone weekwithfamilymembers;she
thenmovedtoNewJerseyandlivedthere forayear.I askedherif she experiencedanyculture change
betweenthisthesetwostatesandshe explainedtome thatinthese twostatesshe didnot experience a
bigcultural change.“California,”she explained,“isasclose toMexicoas you can think.”InCalifornialive
a lot of Hispanicpeople who,likeher,alsomigratedfromtheirhome country. InNew Jersey,she found
the same situationbut,again,she didnotfeel soculture shockedbecause of the diversityof the people
that livedthere.The firstmomentshe feltthe culture shockwaswhenshe movedtoGA Georgia,a place
that we all knowisconsideredone of the mostconservative states.Thisisthe state where she startedto
notice the differencesbetweenher home andlivinginthe UnitedStates,thingssuchastryingto learna
newlanguage andmakingnewfriends.IttookIvonne twoyearstolearnEnglishproperly,andittook
herevenmore time toadapt to her newlife.
As she startedto growup ina culture thatwas strange to her,she alsostartedto notice that she
was notthe same as the restof herpeers.Inhighschool,while everyonewastalkingaboutgettingtheir
driver’slicenseandbeingacceptedtocollege,Ivonnewonderedwhyshe couldnotdothat.Why could
she not gether driver'slicense? The answerwasthatgiventhe fact that Ivonne came here withouta
visaand didnot havinganysort of legal paper,she wasnot entitledtothe privilegesthatmanyof her
otherclassmateshad.That didnot matterto her.Withher headhelduphigh,she keptmovingonwith
herlife.She knewthatGodwouldhave otherplansforher,plansthat were goingto shape herintowho
she had to become.
Thisdidnot letherstop fromwhat she wantedtobe inlife.At first,like manyotherstudents
that whowere inthe same place as her, she became frustratedandsadof at not knowingwhather
future wasgoingto be like.“Will Ibe able to attendcollege?”she wondered.One thingshe knew for

2. sure was that she wasnot alone;hermotheralwaystoldherto believe andknow thatGod wouldmake
it happen.Well certainly,hermomwasright.She wasacceptedintoReinhardtUniversitywillafull
scholarship,calledthe GoizuetaFoundation.Notonlythatbutthingswere goingtomake a full turnin
herlife:Obamahadpasseda law thatallowedforstudentsthatwere notbornhere to have a license
and social securitysothat theycoulddrive andhave a properjob.CalledDACA,thisnew law helped
manystudentslike Ivonne to keepgoingandnotgive up.Atfirst,Ivonne wantedtobecome adentist,
but soonrealizedthathercallingwassomethingelse entirely.The momentshe startedtakingreligion
classesat Reinhardt,she knewshe hadtochange hermajor. Of course,thiswas notan easythingto do,
but one personthatwas there forher washer fiancé,IvanPerez."She wentthroughagrowingprocess
whenshe decidedtochange hermajor.She wentfrombiologytointerdisciplinarystudies.Believe me,
thiswas nota decisionshe made overnight.We talkedaboutitandshe thoughtaboutitfor an entire
semester.Whenshe toldme thatshe changedhercareerpath I knew she washappyand that that was
whatshe wantedtodo,"Ivan stated.
The decisiontotake religionclassesledhertomeethermentor,Rev.AquilesMartinez.Aquiles
introducedhertoa centercalled"Mi Familia"where she begantohelpthe communitybyteachingGED
classesandESOL. Thissummer,theywill openaprogramfor womenwhohave gone throughthings
such as violentrelationshipsanddiscrimination.andThe onlygoal of thisprogram, MujeresenPoder,is
to letthemknowthat theyare not alone;tohelpthemkeepgoinginlife.
"She conveyshope,simplicity,faithandwillingnesstolearnandgrow.She issomeone youcould
trulytrust on,someone whocouldbe anoutstandingfriendtoanyone,"saidReverendMartinezin
regardsto her mentee. AnyonethatwhohasmetIvonne can see the compassionshe hastowards
othersand herlove of learning.Beingfromadifferentculture andnotbeingable tohave the same
privilegesasherpeershasmade herappreciate everythingshe hasevenmore. She alsowishesmore
people were willingtolearnmore aboutherculture andto not stereotype soeasily.Whenaskedwhat
stereotypesshe hasheardandseenaboutMexicanpeople,she respondedthatsome people believed
that Mexicangirlsgetpregnantinhighschool or that theydropout.She wantsthemto know that
Mexicangirlsare not at all how theysaytheyare; some girls,like Ivonne,are girlsthatwantto succeed
inlife andwill notletanyone noranythingstopthat.
Asshe continuestogrowup, she will findmanymore obstaclesthatmightimpedehertofrom
conqueringherdreams,butthatwill notstopIvonne Perez.She will keepgoingonlike she hasdone so
far and will accomplisheverythinginlife.Inherjourney,she willtouchthe heartsof manypeople.