I remember the day I first touched USC’s campus — a senior in high school visiting for College Access Day. A tour guide brought me to the Improving Dreams, Education, Access and Success table in front of Tommy Trojan — now known as the Immigrant Trojan Success Assembly, which provides a community space for immigrant students.  

My journey to writing this column stems from being a high schooler who was surrounded by immigrants in her educational journey. Becoming the second person admitted to USC from my high school was already shocking enough, but with that came adjusting to suddenly being the only first-generation immigrant wherever I went. 

Part of me always felt compelled to share my story as an immigrant navigating college. When you turn to the media, people often fail to understand that immigrants are everywhere, even if we only account for a small number of students. Meaning sometimes, being the only one in the newsroom, Undergraduate Student Government office or classrooms. But once I was able to share this part of me, classmates and fellow students saw how close they were to an issue so televised.  

Joining USG allowed me to implement Know Your Rights red cards across student cultural spaces, which led to collaborating with the executive board of IDEAS to gather over 300 signatures to re-establish IDEAS as the Immigrant Trojan Success Assembly — providing a spotlight to experiences that are often shadowed. 

Undoubtedly, while this experience provided me with exposure, many times I held doubt in what I was writing, because there weren’t many people I could turn to. For many Latino immigrant students, the people we go to for advice tend to be other children of immigrants. But being not only a child of an immigrant, but also an immigrant myself, adds another layer to that experience. 

Writing this column meant more than just opening a Google Doc and typing; it meant providing a voice in the paper for students who have been constantly told “no” and being able to share the journey of navigating an era of heightened immigration enforcement while still having to be present as a student, leader and activist.  

But the privilege of being “just a student” never was the case for immigrant students. From having our presence in higher education debated to our ceremonies being criticized by the media as undeserving, one can only expect the emotional distress this causes. 

My, and many others’, end goal of a dream center, embedded counselor and overall increased representation at USC has not been completed in the four years I have been here, or in the 10 years of a USC organization dedicated to immigrant students. However, this journey will continue with the brave Trojans who continue to share their stories. 

While the majority of my column installments have touched on heavy topics, there is hope in what has been done. As of right now, immigrant students at USC have an assembly for them in the student government, opening the door for them to receive funding through the programming fee, collaborate with other assemblies and expose the USC community to our presence. 

I write this looking back at freshman-year me, knowing I continue to stand as the only immigrant in many educational spaces. This time, however, I do not stand timid of my immigrant identity — despite it haunting the goals I have set for myself. This time, I can look back and see how far writing and advocating take us. 

I look back to when IDEAS was a registered student organization and how it is now being implemented into the student government. I look back to the freshman who wrote her first article, to the sophomore who brought Know Your Rights cards to campus and to the cards that still remain in the First Generation Plus Success Center. 

Now, as I say goodbye to this column, I hope readers get to understand what the reality of being an immigrant scholar is, and that the immigrants graduating, entering USC or aspiring to become a Trojan find community in what I have written and implemented. 

Heydy Vasquez is a senior majoring in legal studies who wrote about immigration policy and its effects on students in her column “Undocutales,” which ran every other Friday. She is also an Opinion editor at the Daily Trojan.