Hi everyone,

I am a no-income/low income law student living across the country from my loved ones and home state. I will be graduating in Spring 2026. I am a first generation Latina in the US, and the first in my family to graduate college. After graduation and hopefully passing the bar, I will be the first in my family's history to be a lawyer. I plan to serve immigrant communities in direct service representation with my degree and license. I want to dedicate my life to honoring the sacrifices of my mama and community back home.

I am starting up this GoFundMe to seek funds to fly out my mom from my hometown to my current city for my graduation and cover a hotel stay for 3-4 nights. If my mom is able to make it to my graduation, this will be the first time I have seen her in 3 years since moving across the country in 2023 for law school. It has been financially impossible for us to travel to see each other since I moved.

As a full time law student with no income, I am unable to support my mom in coming out for my graduation. My mom struggles to cover her most basic bills each month, so she does not have the money to fund transportation to the airport, a roundtrip flight, a hotel stay, and food during the stay. Asking her to come out for 3-4 days, which are 3-4 days she can't work, is already a huge ask and jeopardizes her ability to survive and pay her bills when she gets back home. This fund would cover at least her flight and hotel, so the burden on her is less. Without any financial help, my mom will not be able to fly out to my graduation.

Being able to see my mom and have her celebrate my graduation with me would be an incredible experience. I came to law school to honor my moms sacrifices as an immigrant and single mom who raised me with the princples of always giving back to my community, without ever attaching judgment or conditions to the kindness and humility we show each other. Seeing my mom's resilience, struggle, and sacrifice throughout my childhood, while witnessing her unwavering generosity and humility, is what pushed me to go to law school in the first place. Today, my mom is my only family member in my life. Celebrating this achievement with her would mean showing her that her sacrifices were not in vain, and that she will be forever supported by me, the only person in her support system.

Not being able to see my mom, after being raised by her and living with her from birth until age 23, has been extremely difficult and hard on my mental health. I also see this as an opportunity for my mom to take a much needed break from her daily life. She works everyday of the week and she hasn't taken a true break or vacation since 2018. When she isn't cleaning houses, she is driving doing ubereats and doordash delivery to supplement her income. I call her everyday to make sure she made it home safely, and to ask her what work she will be up to tomorrow. Having 3-4 days off of work, to come celebrate my graduation, would be huge in giving her a much needed mental and physical rest, as she still does a manual labor job even in her 60s. Although I will not make an overabundance of money as a public service lawyer, I plan to support my mom financially when I begin my career and continue supporting her into my career.

Finally, I wanted to mention that I am extremely mindful that there are so many needs in the world right now that makes this ask feel difficult to reconcile. Immigrants across the country are being targeted and persecuted; low-income folks are struggling to stay housed and make ends meet; and uncertainties and fear in so many communities are growing everyday. If you don't want to or can't donate, I am grateful for any sharing you can do of my GoFundMe. Thank you so much everyone, muchas gracias!