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Hello guys! My name is Israel, I

Hey guys, my name is Santiago and I'm from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I was born in Uruguay and we emigrated to Massachussett's when I was five years old, we moved to Florida a few years later and have been here since. It's odd that I find myself joining this forum, I normally keep my feelings in check but man...the reality of my situation dawned on me hard and I've been a whiny teary eyed mess all day. I've had DACA for 4 years now (or 3 1/2) and I'm very thankful for being able to work and drive, I digress. I've been trying to keep a positive mindset, but it's hard. I've tried signing up for college twice now, Florida doesn't let me pay in state tuition prices...so paying out of pocket with no financial aid - well, the price is astranomical. Even if I moved back home with my parents I still wouldn't be able to afford it, both visits to my local community college (a year apart from each other) ended in utter dissapointmen. I was discouraged for a while, and for the most part of this last year I kind of...floated around. Working an OKAY paying, but definatley not a "real" job, hanging out with my roommate, got a dog...but not really progressing in life. Although I'm facing unjust hardships due to assbackwards legislature, I'm still a patriot and I consider the United States my home. A few months ago I began developing an interest in the military, admittedly, I'd never taken the time to really look into. A world of opportunities seemed to open up to me - first of all, up until this moment I had absolutley no idea what I wanted to do with my life. But the moment I began learning more aboutt he military, I knew I'd finally figured it out - everything clicked. I'm very athletic, and although I've never had any training - survivalism and the endurance of the human body have always been great interests of mine - so the prospect of 9 weeks of hellish basic training made me feel excitement and joy I hadn't felt for anything in a while. For weeks I continued reading up on the military, I wanted to make an informed decision. I kept on trying to talk myself out of it, think of reasons NOT to go and...it just didn't happen. This was it. I found it. Today, I finally mustered up the balls and was going to go to the enlistment office. I went to bed like a small child the night before Disney World, I couldn't WAIT to wake up and go to the enlist. I went to bed that night with a SENSE of pride, because I was stepping up, I was being a man, and I was enlisting in the US Army. I woke up early the next morning, all my documents in a folder, and I beamed with excitement as I drove to the enlistment office. Thirty minutes later...I was crushed. I wasn't eligibile. I've always assumed that with DACA we were allowed to join the military, I just thought it made SENSE - why not let us serve the country? Just been a mess all day ever since, I keep on crying which makes me feel really emasculated...it just sucks and it's so unfair. And then...it got even more unfair. Reeling from being told that I wasn't going to be able to enlist in the military, I tried looking on the positive side of things. Driving around I kept on seeing posters from the Police Department that they were hiring officers. There I went again, getting excited - surviving police academy wouldn't be as great as the army...and being a cop wouldn't be the same as being a Private - but for now it'd have to do. It was at least a chance to advance myself in life. Of course, I got home - did my research. You have to be a US Citizen. Sorry for the rant, it's just been a really hard day. I'm so disheartened, I don't know what to do at this point - I feel literally sick. It's just so fucked, all of it. I had to tell someone about this and I have too much pride to cry to my parents. Best regards, and I hope to meet and connect with others on the same boat. Misery loves company?

You have no clue how much I needed to read this! And to see I am not the only one with a hard-working mindset! From the first time I understood what I was and its limitations, it just pushed me down. All through high school, I would get jealous to see all my friends apply at colleges, scholarships, jobs, etc. and here I was more than capable to give it my best but without the right means to do so. No SSN to apply and do something productive, even volunteering for stuff I needed a SSN and it just felt like everything I ever dreamed of was going to stay a dream. Fortunately I found my way in college and started studying History, I want to be a teacher, half-ways through I start feeling down again. I'm thinking "whats the point? when I finish I have to take a certification test and I need to be a U.S. resident/citizen to take the test (this was a Texas school)." I just felt horrible, so much I quit school. I had lost the hopes of finishing school, my parents weren't that supportive that I would get the DACA so they did not even help me try. Luckily, I met my boyfriend and he has been very supportive we moved out here to California, he helped me gather the money and apply, I am currently waiting for an answer, looking for a under the table job, getting an AB60 DL, and trying to get back in school. However, hearing how someone like us was, and is, successful brings me a lot of joy and hope that I, too, will be somebody. Thank you so much!