Everyone keeps asking what a border computer is. Funny, considering how often I get reminded. Maybe it's time you started keeping up to. Mexican nationals who live in the US-Mexico border and wish to attend a border university but cannot afford or are unable to reside in the sister city to their hometown may attend any US institution within 75 miles of the physical border to become a border commuter.
Border commuters can choose between part-time or full-time status and are expected to periodically renew their paperwork in order to maintain legal status. This, to be able to cross international bridges from their hometown to their college campus inside the neighboring country and return by the end of the day without spending more than 24 hours at a time on the US side.
Before starting my last semester, the first decision I made, and one I was super scared of, was quitting my retail job.I had worked at a clothing store inside a popular mall in Juarez for almost 4 years at that point. And working part-time was already ingrained in my routine. Letting go of it filled me with uncertainty.
That store had turned into my third home after UTEP, and as excited as I was to have my afternoons back, as a 26-year-old, I felt kind of ashamed that I would be left out without the little income
....that I had to alleviate the full load my dad had been paying already. Dad: Yo creo que esa es mi responsabilidad. Las preocupaciones son para mí. En cuanto a... (I think that is my responsibility. The worries are mine, in regards to...)
Dad: ...lo económico, las preocupaciones tuyas son que salieras bien. Entonces, yo creo que cada quien jugo un rol muy importante. Yo asegurando que tú tuvieras lo necesario y tú asegurando que tu estudio lo llevaras de la forma correcta. (...the financial ones. Your worries were to do a good job. So, I believe everyone had an important role, me making sure you had what you needed and you correctly leading your studies.) Daisy: As I have mentioned, as a border commuter, scholarship and fundings are a tad harder to find since your nationality and your domicile are foreign to the country, which
often is a main requisite.Some of us have a mailing address in the US, but when your mailing address and your permanent address don't match, some doors close. Sometimes, when opportunities show up, turns out they were not even for you. And this, actually, happened to a border commuter friend...
Alfredo (border commuter): I was hired for a job, but then I was called a month later by my supervisor saying that "Oh, we made a mistake, we shouldn't have hired you because we didn't realize that the position we hired before was only for US citizens." It was a work-study program. Daisy: In my case, I rarely ever applied for funding.
I did have PASE, which is an assistance program for foreign students who would normally pay extra, but PASE allows them to pay the same amount as a Texas resident would. This is a year-long aid, so you do have to get recertified every year of your degree's length. But it's the help I mostly relied on before graduating. After quitting my job, I started spending all my afternoons in school.
I could finally stay longer without having to rush to the bus stop before 1:00 p.m. Before I go on, I need to mention that I was graduating with a bachelor's degree in communication studies with a minor in commercial music and recording.
I mention this because during my last semester, I had to figure out where my degree would take me and what steps I needed to take to make sure I had a future that could put all my learnings into practice. While taking the classes in my minor in commercial music and recording, I grew an interest in studio recording, since audio production had always been my favorite aspect of production.
So, I started spending way more time strengthening my skills and growing closer to certain professors who would advise me on where to go after I graduated. Dr. Richard Pineda (professor): We're opening doors that will change those people's lives. Dr. Frank Perez (professor): The vast majority of Mexican students on campus work very hard and are very committed to succeeding.
As a border community, and maybe as an international student in general that this closure of your timeline, because of the permit that you have. The constraint that it carries. The limitation of the places that you can apply for it is honestly disheartening. Luis and I compare this to the difficulty of getting an internship or any funding opportunities.
Luis (border commuter): They have told me about a couple of projects where they thought I could be part of them to work on them, but I was unable because of my visa. Those are the things that remind you the the importance of the paperwork and, of course, the disadvantage that you have, right? For being a border commuter.
Daisy: I wanted to feel nervous because of my graduation. After all, I had put in all the work myself. But as days passed, I just grew more and more anxious on being left out. without school.
And because I had not networked enough due to my part-time job in Juarez, I did not feel confident in being hired since I had nothing but customer service in a foreign country as my job experience. I pushed the thought of the long-term future to the back of my mind and started acting on the most immediate next steps, which were taking a workshop on OPT, which is optional practical training.
As an international student, you have the opportunity to apply your knowledge in a working environment after graduation for 12 months under a working authorization. This is still an authorization that comes with a small print letter, so for a specific question, I suggest it is always better to call or attend the walk-in advising session with the office of international programs. The workshops for new opportunities are always mandatory.
After I attended mine, I applied and I waited for the best. I got sent about three more emails confirming that my request was sent. Then my academic advisor confirmed that I was in my last semester. All the emails always made sure to include in bright red color, and bold font, that none of those updates meant that I had been approved.
In my last weeks, I spent a lot of time in the recording studio located in the Fox Fine Arts building inside UTEP. I wanted to keep working on what I wanted to pursue after, and while out on a field trip to an actual recording studio in El Paso, some fellow producers working in the establishment mentioned that they were always looking for interns, and that they would most likely end up with a paid opportunity.
I did not want to get my hopes up, as they made it very clear that it was a demanding job and the hours were long. The hours I did not mind about, but the fact that I was still commuting the border and rarely would cross back at late times, made me uncertain of the timing for the buses and how the whole routine would go. It was time for me to sit down with my studio recording professor and ask for advice.
I had come to the conclusion that I actually missed mass media, especially the radio part. Since all of my Associate's degree in EPCC had been spent on that, and I asked if he knew any good opportunities or had any input whatsoever. My professor had no clue, and I kind of expected it.Media is not something you get hired for easily.
Although he did not know radio opportunities, he did knew some guy who worked on the radio on campus. It was an NPR-affiliated radio and maybe it would be a good idea to email them.
KTEP was no stranger to me. Back in EPCC, when my peers would discuss the NMSU program, they also mentioned KTEP, but mostly in a negative way. Because being an NPR affiliate, it mostly catered to older audiences, and the music range was mostly jazz.
Before my graduation, I promised myself to just seize the opportunities, even when I did not like them. I believe as border commuters who have limited amount of time, we get into this mindset because of how limited the market is for us. I often try to pull myself out of being too negative because of my legal situation, but after almost a decade of being a border commuter, one can't help but have the thought of "looks like a great opportunity,
...what's the fine print?" It becomes a habit to expect that they require you to live in the United States or that they are not accepting the kind of permit you have, because it is only a one-year permit.
The day finally came. And I graduated with a Bachelor's in communication studies on May 15th of 2022. I walked the stage filled with pride, but also wondering deep down if anybody else was in my situation. As a border commuter, I always try to look for others like me.
Who could understand that while being unemployed and uncertain of the future, they also understood the extra amount of stress because of the restrictions that the already scarce opportunities had.
After graduation, came a couple of months of not knowing if I was doing the right thing. Was it okay for me to still seek an opportunity in a place where I only had a year left? Should I go back to retail and work full-time where I knew almost everybody and where I had been comfortable already? I ended up talking to my former boss and asking if I could go back full-time for the summer while waiting for my authorization card.
He was ecstatic and said, "Yes." Dagoberto (former retail employer): La verdad, creo que la mayor parte de tu carrera laboraste con conmigo y sinceramente fue una muy buena y grata satisfacción tenerte como parte del equipo. (I think you spent most of your career working for me and, honestly, your performance was greatly satisfactory having you as a part of the team.)
I spent most of that summer under deep anxiety. I knew I was waiting on my EAD card, and the waiting was only temporary. EAD stands for employment authorization document, and this comes in the form of a card. That small card to me meant the work I had put in for so long. And I admit that I cried when I opened the letter it came in.
After the card was shipped, I could start applying, and maybe they would employ me. But what would happen after the 365 days had run out?Most people suggested seeking legal advice and a working permit, but I had been through so many processes that I did not know if I had it in me to do a more complex one. With my EAD card in hand, I started emailing every mass media place I knew.
Also with very little hope, I might add. And the first and only to answer was KTEP. I dreaded seeing how attentive and responsive they were.I met with a person who normally oversaw the volunteers or entrance, and it looked like I had gotten in. In the interview, I had to draw a timeline of how my EAD card worked and what I needed from them,
since my office of international programs still needed constant updates from everything I was doing. A benefit when you're under an OPT or optional practical training is that it is not limited to only paid opportunities, but you can maintain the permit if you volunteer for a site.
Daisy on KTEP: And All Things Considered Is supported by... Daisy: So I started at KTEP under a volunteering position. I spent close to six months as a production an intern and an on-air talent at KTEP before my supervisor pitched me the chance of a paid opportunity as a producer of a show.
I had already been producing three shows at that point, but this opportunity came from the host himself, paying out of a grant that he had so that I could accomplish specific tasks.After some discussions and several amount of times where I explained that I needed employment offer letters provided and my office of international programs to approve, I was finally employed for the first time.
My employers for KTEP actually had previous experience with other border commuters committees. So, it was not weird for them to fill out all my paperwork. John Carrillo (General Manager): The things that they have to go through in order to be able to get through their university studies and eventually get their degrees, whether it's a bachelor's degree or a master's degree is harder for them than it is for you.
Maria Rubio (Station Business Manager): And so throughout the years, it seems like the number of students increased. And of course, I saw it because I worked here with our students, and there were semesters when I had maybe all four students who were from Juarez and had to commute. Paul Castro (Operations Director): Paperwork is a little cumbersome, and it does create problems, but it could easily be something else.
Paul Castro (Operations Director): To give you some more context, when I worked in DC, there were a lot of people from all over the world that work there, and that's just a common thing that they have, paperwork that they have to submit. I was a full-time producer back then, and man, every day was a joy.But when the winter season kicked in, the stress of figuring out what the next step was also settled in.
Another skill that border commuters develop, whether we like it or not, is that because we are constantly renewing our papers to commute the border, we are used to the hyper-awareness of what the next six months should look like. Meaning that I will enjoy my semester, but my brain was also already programmed to remember that four months in, I have to be applying for either a renewal of some kind or a workshop.
I don't think my summer or winter breaks ever started without a mental breakdown because I knew I had renewed what I needed. But what if I hadn't? After what seemed like a hundred years of enduring freezing winters and excruciatingly hot summers, my parents were able to provide a car for me.
As a border commuter, a car is a golden nugget. And even though the driving process took me a while, the commuting from the bridge started looking a lot different. Often when commuting the bridge by walking, there would be times where I would have to wait outside looking at the cars go by, and I would imagine that one day that would be me.
I no longer had to run from the customs building to the Sun Metro station to get to the bus that would hopefully rush to UTEP on time. And after the winter of 2022, that became true. Having a vehicle it's always a privilege. My fellow border commuters and I heavily bonded over this. Alfredo (border commuter): I worked with sound, so I was also mixing in the car. A lot of times, I would do sound mixing in the car. I think the big one is sleeping.
I had a class at 7:00 a.m. So, I would get there at 6:30 and I would take a nice nap. Or the big one was also studying. There was a couple times where they pulled me for for random check, the orange slip, and I was studying on the middle bench. They told me "you can get anything out of the car" so I left everything and just took my math book and I was studying there. Lili (border commuter): I definitely think of my car as a very important part of my college career.
Lili (border commuter): It's seen many many anxiety attacks, many depressing episodes, many maths, many study sessions.
Luis (border commuter): If I'm just very stressed and when for a drink and it happens to be five or six drinks, I don't like to drive if I drink that much so I just sleep in the car and the next morning I go to the Rec Center and take shower and start my day.
Daisy: At the end of the day, your car turns into a small piece of your home that you can drive around. You are finally shielded from inclement weather. You can finally walk around campus knowing you can leave without worrying about bus times. And you feel free of shame because you're not asking for rides anymore. After getting a car, life seemed a lot simpler.
And then the spring semester was ending. And so was my OPT working permit. And the overthinking settled in.
