Hello everyone, my name is Karla Alarcon and I am a senior at Highland Park Senior High School located in St Paul, Minnesota. I am a first generation student. This year I’ll be the first person in my family who will graduate from high school. I’ll be going to college in fall of 2019. I plan to major in political science and minor in Italian. My long-term goal is to attend grad school to pursue a career as an immigration lawyer in order to help students who come from a similar background as me overcome barriers. I want to make a difference and provide more resources and help for undocumented and DACA students.


I’m lucky in that my parents are very supportive and want me to go to college and succeed, but unfortunately since college is very expensive, especially for minorities like me, they are not able to afford to pay for all of it. I have two younger sisters who are also going to college after me. My dad works eighty hours per week to be able to support us and so does my mom. I am planning to work full-time this summer and place those funds towards tuition, but it still isn’t enough, which is why I am reaching out to all of you.  


This year I’ve had many obstacles thrown at me that had made me doubt if I was ever going to get to the point of getting ready to college. But I overcame that and now I’m stronger than ever, willing to fight for my future and ready to take on anything life decides to throw at me. So I’m asking anything any of you guys could donate would help me reach my goal and attend college. Any money raised will go towards covering the cost of tuition and fees beyond what my family and I can afford to pay. Thank you so much for reading my story, please share it whether or not you can personally contribute - I really appreciate your help!