Jose Gomez Macias’ Story
As retold by Gwendolyn Hopkins
Contradiction
Saltillo Coahuila, Mexico
Most of my life
I was a child
A child with more work than you could imagine
A school that you’d never understand
Hard work
I was a child
A child who loved metal
Understanding the mechanics of movement
Understanding the mechanics of organization
Utility
Robots
A team I was jointed to
Ones who did not try
But always succeeded
I was a child
A child full of drive
Flint Michigan, U.S.A.
Least of my life
I am an adult
I’m out of the house now
My own would say I’m too juvenile
You’d say I’m perfectly ripened
Culture
30 days ago I took a voyage that not many take where I am from
in my town
my family
I am the third and final of my siblings
I want to emulate them
my kin
their knowledge an opus
A tumult of a country I am in now
A united country
still better than my own
I followed my sisters to this town
Its state who claims as being pure
Yet
it’s Water can’t be used
I started college just a month ago
Understanding the mechanics of Design
Understanding the mechanics of the wrist
Creativity
I am an adult with less work than my family could imagine
A school that they would never understand
Quiescent
I must not complain
for I have had impressive opportunities
I have worked hard to get here
and the support to last me a lifetime
I crave the prestige of a chiseled education
To provide in the future
To give back
I’ve sailed many voyages
some many days ahead of 30
some 30 days from now
I’m out of the house now
you’d say I’m too Juvenile
my own would say I’m perfectly ripened
Knowledge
I am an adult
An adult full of drive
-Gwendolyn Hopkins
This story originally appeared in Facing College: Immigrant & International Students’ Stories, a publication of The Facing Project that was organized by Mott Community College in Flint, Michigan.