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From day one, my grandmother, my dad and my aunt always told me, " you can do anything
in this country. They sky is the limit." My name is Jess Montejano, I'm 23 years old
and I'm a second generation Mexican American. I think a big thing in Hispanic culture, and
especially with my family, is always to make the next generation as successful as possible.
When he was 8 years old, he said, "Grandma, when I grow up, I'm going to be president,
so I can help all the poor people." My grandmother only finished up until the
second grade, so she always told me that an education is a direct pathway to achieving
your dreams. I don't have an education myself, so it's
what I want my kids to have, a good education, so they would have a better life.
Bless everyone at this table, please bless the food among us, thank you Lord.
Amen. When I'm here with my family, it really reminds
me of how they were willing to do whatever it took to send me off to college, even though
it was going to be a financial hardship on our family.
Even though it's taken out a lot of money, the education was an investment in my future.
It meant a great deal to me that President Obama supported students with his legislation,
like the American Opportunity Tax Credit. When I filed my taxes in 2009, he put an extra
thousand dollars in my pocket. That was a really big help for me in order to pay some
bills. I was really able to focus a little bit more
on my studies, because I knew I had a little extra financial support.
He helped me out a lot personally. The first time I learned about President Obama's
student loan reform, it was right during the time I was thinking about pursuing my master's
degree. There would have been no way that I would
have been able to afford the cost of the extra $40,000 in debt without the income-based repayment
plan. Seeing me graduate was really a dream come
true for my family, especially my grandmother. I hope to serve as a role model of some sort
for the next generations of my family. I'll be able to specifically point to things that
President Obama has done to say, look, college is an option for you.
President Obama really understands the struggles and interests of students. He's fighting for
families like mine to continue to live the American dream.