Meet our first Puksta Highlighted Scholar!
Aminta Menjivar
University of Denver Puksta Scholar
Year: Junior
Major: International Business
Minor: Legal Studies
Community Partner Organization:
I work with high school counselors in the Denver area.
Social Justice Issue Area:
I care about making higher education more accessible for undocumented students. The current immigration system marginalizes undocumented students to the point that college can become unreachable for them. In fact, undocumented students often have to pay much higher tuition rates than traditional students, which often discourages them from pursuing their goals. In my experience, college is possible for undocumented students, but they have to be very strategic about how they raise the necessary funds for tuition. This experience is one of the reasons why I’m currently mentoring undocumented students. I mentor them because I want to show them that college is possible regardless of the high amount of money that they will have raise in order to attend it. This encouragement will keep talented undocumented students from giving up on their dreams.
Future Goals:
In the next few years, I want to further develop my mentoring program so I can reach more students who need advice about college access. This part, however, is only the early phase of my larger Puksta Project. I eventually want to start a foundation that will help undocumented students reach their goals of attending college by gifting scholarships. It is unjust to nurture undocumented students’ talent to later tell them that college is financially unreachable for them. My foundation will help bring justice to this issue. In essence, my foundation will help to alleviate the financial burden that young undocumented students have to deal with and will be a source of hope for them.
