I was born and raised in Guatemala also known as the “Land of Eternal Spring.” A small country in Central America with a surface area of 108,890 square kilometers, bordered by Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Belize.

Home of one the biggest Mayan cities in the world, Tikal, Guatemala is also one of 19 countries in the world to have an abundant biological diversity, also referred to as a megadiverse country. It is composed of 22 graphic entities called departments, one of those being Guatemala city, the place where I was born and raised.

Although a beautiful country full of diversity, Guatemala, like many other countries, lacks political order and that causes deficiency in many areas, including education.

According to UNESCO (United Nations of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), only 47% of the population receive an elementary school education, 87.3% get through middle school, 42.2% get through high school and 22.1% of Guatemala’s population receive a university education, leaving the country with a 75% literacy rate. Education in Guatemala is a privilege more than a right.

I was privileged enough to receive a good education in private schools due to the foundations that my family provided for me. My mom was 20 and my dad was 21 when I was born. They were young but they did what they could to provide me with what I needed.

My privilege came from a family-owned business that my grandmother started when she was young. In addition to owning and operating a business, my grandmother took care of three girls on her own, including my mom.

My dad partnered with friends and family to get his own company that rented out printers to bigger companies. Being born into two family-owned businesses provided me with the education that I had, and not many other Guatemalans had that privilege due to socioeconomic inequality.

A study made by the Union Bank of Switzerland said “260 Guatemalans own 56% of the national economy.” This means that 0.001% of the population owns more than half of the whole country.

My family had the opportunity to receive a good education. For example, my aunt Karla Villatoro completed high school and was able to attend a good university, “Universidad del Valle de Guatemala” where she majored in Biology. My aunt Karla was skilled enough to find a job at the University of Nebraska that sponsored her studies to get a master’s in Biology, which then led her to find a job at El Camino College.

My aunt Karla knew I would not have a bright future staying in Guatemala, so she offered me to come to California to study at El Camino College (ECC).

I did not expect to have the opportunity to be able to study in the United States and it sounded like a dream come true to me. I immediately agreed to go and my mind could not stop thinking about how what seemed impossible for me suddenly became a reality.

In May 2019, I came to California to understand what my new life would look like. I went to ECC to look at the establishment and when I first stepped foot onto the college campus, I thought it was huge because I have never seen anything like it in Guatemala.

I continued looking around the campus until I found the International Student Program where they told me everything I needed to get accepted into ECC.

The International Student Program (ISP) informed me that international students must apply for an F-1 Student Visa. The F-1 Student Visa permits international students to study in the United States for as long as their major lasts. Unfortunately, the process for applying for visas in 2019 was complicated due to visa limitations and penalties set by the Trump administration.

After filling out the application I was able to have an appointment with the U.S. embassy. As I stood in line for my interview, I noticed some people getting their visas denied, which terrified me into thinking that my dream of studying in the United States would end.

Suddenly, I was called upon to show the U.S. embassy all of my required documents. I was asked many different questions such as when did I plan on staying and who was going to take care of me monetarily during my stay.

After waiting a little while after the interview process, my visa was approved and my first reaction was to cry from the overwhelming sense of happiness I felt as I became one step closer to achieving my dream.

After getting my visa approved, the only thing that was left was for me to wait until the fall 2019 school semester began. ECC advises all international students to be living within the U.S. for at least a month before the first day of school, so in July 2019 I decided to move into my aunt’s house in Long Beach, California.

The first thing I noticed when arriving in the United States was how different the people were towards each other. It feels different to experience a country as a tourist rather than living there as a “resident.”

My perspective of the United States changed completely because it seemed that people were a little bit colder towards each other, and not as welcoming as the people are in Guatemala.

I attended ECC as a student for the first time in August 2019. Every semester, the ISP organizes a new student orientation where they introduce international students to how the school works. The ISP tested my English reading, writing and speaking skills to see which class was the right fit for me.

At the start of my academic journey, I focused on learning proper English and how to write because even though I learned some necessary writing skills back in Guatemala, I did not know how to write professionally in MLA format.

I took English classes that helped with my writing skills to become a better student and I chose to major in Business Administration, but after taking my first accounting class, I understood that it was not the right choice for me because my math skills were not up to par.

When the global pandemic shut down most business operations in 2020, I had no choice but to stay home when everything changed to an online platform. The sudden change was hard to adjust to at first, but I had a little bit more time to explore what I liked and it allowed me to discover my passion for writing.

I started taking journalism classes in the fall semester of 2020 to expand my writing skills further. Learning about journalism changed my life completely, as it gave me another direction in my professional life and ever since I made that decision, my goals have now shifted in the direction of becoming a journalist.

Now in fall 2021, I have been pursuing journalism as a reporter and a photographer for ECC’S news publication The Union, and I could not be happier.

I now look at everything that was a challenge before now as a new opportunity to learn and grow. Before moving to the U.S., my future plans were not that promising but now I firmly believe that I have all the opportunities that I need to become a successful reporter.

My biggest dream is to work for Vice Media, something that I never thought could be possible until now.

Editor’s Note Nov. 19, 2021, 1:59 p.m.: Story updated to correct redundancy error.