Our classes are over, our papers are (mostly) finished, we're leaving for the final retreat at the beach on Monday. I can't help but marvel at how fast we got here. My Border Studies journey has been especially long; I'm one of the two loquitas who decided to stay for both the fall and spring semester. This has been a life-changing experience. I've experienced the harsh beauty of the borderlands. I've felt anger at the violence and oppression we all live and I've channeled that rage into loud protests and marches. My view of the world has been shattered and I'm in the process of putting back the pieces in a way that feels more right to me now. I've become brown and proud. I've been adopted into two new families and grown closer with my own mamá as I've come to better understand our own migration story. I have been blown away by the strength and wisdom of Guatemalan campesina ex-guerrillera mothers. I want to be a revolutionary organizer midwife farmer. I've fallen in love with the desert. I have walked inside a dream at a zapatista caracol and I will always have that feeling to guide me abajo y a la izquierda, tierradentro toward the roots and the heart.
I just want to express my gratitude to the many teachers who have started me on this lifelong process of growth. Thank you for everything you've done for me.
Border Studies is (finally) ending. Now the real work begins.
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