processing

Still internalizing the new American reality.

Not super common knowledge, but my mom is the first gen of my family born here.

I remember government cheese, and hitting the pawnshops before birthday shopping for her man.

And this time next year, I'll be defending my doctoral dissertation in molecular microbiology.

Ultimate success of "I want my children to have a better life than I had."

And now, I wake to a New Year (shout-out fellow Cocks!) in which people have been banned from returning to their homes. Our home. Based on where they were born, or how they pray.

How do I, a somewhat broke fulltime grad student with not a lot of cash and even less free time, find a way to RESIST THIS?