UNM Grad School Fund

Greetings community,

To those who I have not had the honor of working with, my name is Jose Mondragon. I am an undocumented immigrant youth activist residing in San Diego, CA. When I was 11 years old, my mother and I came to the United States in search of a better life not only for the both of us but also for the family we left behind in Mexico. 14 years ago, I came to this country with my mother, whose primary goal was to provide me with a better education and a better future. Now, after many challenges and battles won, I find myself still fighting for my mother's dream and my own dream to continue on my path of higher education.

Two years ago, after transferring from San Diego City College, I successfully finished my undergraduate career at the University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Sociology and Latin America & Latino Studies. In order to fund those two years in Santa Cruz, I was working two and sometimes even three jobs to pay for tuition and books. Today, I feel more than ready to continue my educational career at the University of New Mexico (UNM), where I was recently granted admission into the College of Education as a Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies (LLSS) graduate student.

My ultimate goal is to one day become a social justice educator, someone who will contribute to the challenge of creating safer schools for students like me, who come from underrepresented and underresourced communities. My eventual objective is of one day attaining a doctoral degree in the hopes of becoming a community college professor.

My goal for this fundraiser campaign is to raise $3,000 in order to meet UNM's fee deadline. Your contributions and monetary support will help me cover parts of my tuition for fall semester and beyond. As an undocumented student who has still not been approved for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), I have very limited resources available to me. With this said, it is with love and respect that I am asking for your support in making my next journey a reality.

With love and respect,
Jose Mondragon

*If you wish to make a donation via check, or make any other contributions towards my education fund please feel free to get a hold of me.