But I’ll tell you what my days were like 6 days a week. 6 am wake up and ride my bike for an hour and change, roughly 20 miles, go directly to work and start my work day at around 8 o’clock, work was an assistant to a gas plumber, it was a tough job if I do say so. This would continue until school started at 4:00 pm, which meant whipping the dirt off my face and rushing to school which ended at 9:30. At ten I had another job, I was a waiter at a pizzeria right next to my morning job, which was only till midnight. Where did I live? in a shack not too distant from work. But my earnings were never ever enough, 100 dollars a month will never be enough, at least not in Mexico. They were enough to keep me standing, but not enough to keep the hunger away every single day. Have you ever eaten the rubbery ends on a chicken leg? you know the part that feels like plastic when you bite into it? Neither had I until those days. It must have been November, and it was a weekend, so I would not be fed at work, and without a cent in my pocket or a bite to eat at home, it would become one of the most important weekends of my life. When you are in this kind of situation and your stomach starts hurting from hunger at 10 am you know you are in for a long one. What to do what to do? Walk the streets and look for anything. I walked and walked without much luck, did I beg? Never, I could die of hunger but I’ll never lose my pride. Found a couple of coins, which bought me a piece of bread, and that is how I went to sleep. The next morning I rushed to work, got an advance on my pay for the week, and immediately went to buy a roasted chicken, I did not stop eating until there were only bones left, the rubbery parts were gone too, and you know what? They have never tasted better. Every time I eat chicken I think about that weekend, and the chicken legs.

Did I learn anything during this period in my life? I learned everything I needed to learn to make it through, and then some. But luckily this didn’t last too long and at age 15 I moved to the United States, with my mind set on a better life. Since then I have encountered many more obstacles, as well as opportunities, which I have taken advantage of, because I want a great life, a life worthwhile, a life worth the work that I’ve put in.

Today I am 22, a student athlete attending a university studying psychology, running track and field with a full tuition scholarship which cost me a lot of training and a few medals. I supporting myself, which is not as fun as it may sound like. My earnings have gone up, I now earn 5 times more than what I used to when I was 14, yet it is barely enough to make it through. I take nothing that I have not earned, I am a successful individual, I work hard every day, and as far as I am concerned I am a great member of my community, yet I am not considered to be a part of this thriving society.

I keep wondering what it is that I am, am I a person without 9 essential digits? A person without a few documents? And will these documents make me better to the eyes of the law? I guess that just being a person that wants to succeed and give back will never be enough. I keep waiting for an answer to that one, I wait and I keep my eyes wide open, because I am running out of time and out of energy, it has been eight years since I started, and it would be great to see a bit of a change. Anyone out there?