Immigration Clinic in Half Moon Bay

Thursday 12/4

Myself and two other girls from Notre Dame drove down to an Immigration Clinic in Half Moon Bay in the same location as Table of Plenty. As soon as we got there we were immediately split up between different tables and sat down with a lawyer. As I sat to wait for the people we were going to be working with I spoke to the lawyer I was first assigned with. I learned that all the lawyers that were there were all volunteers and were not immigration lawyers. It was interesting that even older people go out and volunteer.
The purpose of the immigration clinic was for undocumented locals to apply and reapply for their DACA application for legal residence here in the United States. The first person I worked was named Irma and I didn't really have to translate because she had been living in Half Moon Bay for years so she spoke good english. I felt like I did more work in the second appointment. I worked with a different lawyer and actually needed to translate. It was a good experience because I heard first hand peoples journey to get to the United States. It was interesting to see how many times people tried before they got to the United States.
What we talked about I can specifically say because the instructions were that we had to keep their information confidential. But I enjoyed translating because I learned a lot and got to practice my spanish. It made me realize what people go through and made me appreciate life and that I have my whole family together because a lot of people leave their families behind.
I was a little upset though because I wasn't able to attend the Table of Plenty like I thought I would. I spoke to Jim earlier in the immigration clinic and I mentioned to him that I was going to leave soon because I wanted and needed to be a part of Table of Plenty. But he mentioned to me that the clinic needed help and that I should just stay and that our professor would understand. I stayed for the entire clinic and they were extremely thankful for our help. After the clinic I ran over to table of plenty but I was too late. I walked in while they were cleaning up. But I definitely plan to do Table of Plenty next Semester.

Back to Kindergarden Oct.28

On October 28th,

My friends and I attended the event called Back to Kindergarden in the Sky Lounge in New Hall. The reason we decided to go was because the name sounded interesting. I was curious to see what would we would do that will remind us of going back to kindergarden. Walking in I was shocked to see how little amount of people showed up. It was all upperclassmen, which were the ones who put on the event. Not a lot of people showed up overall.
The event was to make lanyard keychains. It was really hard because it had been soo long since I had made them. But once I got into it, I was able to make many. Overall it was fun, they had little snacks for us to eat while we were there and we got to know some of the RA's and their friends. We spoke on how to become RA's in the future as well as becoming more involved in Student Leadership. It was a small event but it allowed me to reach out to upperclassmen. It also made me realize that a lot of events that are posted around campus take a lot of time and money to put the event together. When people don't show up, its kind of a waste because they are fun. It made me feel like I should make an effort to attend some more events if I have the time.