Speaking Out At Stanford

This isn’t about me. This is about ensuring that everyone has equal access to higher education in the United States. And if you find that the access is limited, there are two things to do:

1. Fight to change the laws.
2. Leave this country to go somewhere else where they would treat us like humans.

I plan to do both. At least, that is what I meant to say.

I hope this is one of my last speaking assignments — I lack energy and enthusiasm and do not have much to offer at this point. Things have been set into motion with new organizers and a good stream of funding that people will bicker over and I do not want to stick around to watch the ugliness that money brings.

I find it easier to let go and not make this cause about my life. It is a very small part of who I am as a person and making it take precedence over all my other roles, responsibilities and identities was probably not the smartest thing to do.

I had a good question directed at me after the panel where someone asked me “I keep wondering where you will be in 10 years. Was this your calling?”

My answer was quite honest. I will hopefully not be in this country and the DREAM Act would have been a tiny part of my life that I could barely remember. And as for ‘calling,’ I haven’t decided yet. I think it is a responsibility I took on and brought to new and unprecedented levels. Whether or not anyone would ever recognize that with more than a ‘Thank You’ is another matter. The only remuneration is non-monetary–in seeing the empowerment of a new generation of activists around the country who work together to bring about social change.