Even though she's graduating, Esther Castillo is still working hard. She's aiming high so she can help others overcome the kind of situations many other first-generation immigrants and their children face.
Esther is the oldest of three kids and took on a lot of responsibility from a young age, especially when her parents were at risk of deportation. Her parents had emigrated from El Salvador and Guatemala, and they met in the U.S. when they were going through deportation. They made a commitment to returning to the U.S. and starting their family in Dallas.
"I remember my parents showing me a binder and telling me that it had all the important documents and if anything happened to them that I would need to get the documents and take care of my siblings," Esther says.
Despite the pressure, those experiences led Esther to study immigration law so she could help other families in similar situations. When her high school partnered with the Dallas Bar Association to offer internships to students, she signed up to intern with the Fragomen law firm, which specializes in immigration law.
Graduating high school in 2020 meant that Esther's college experience started online, which was a big shift for her. She had a harder time connecting, managing time and learning how to be successful at the university level.
As a first-generation college student, Esther didn't have the generational knowledge of the college experience others had, but she found the support and community she needed at UNT.
"The First-Generation Success Center provided a lot of help," she says. "They talk about FASFA, how to build credit, provide free headshots and so many more resources that I wouldn't have access to or would even have known about otherwise."
With the help of the First-Generation Success Center, along with guidance from her department faculty and advisors, Esther's on track to graduate after just two-and-a-half years at UNT. But all that support wouldn't amount to anything if it weren't for the countless hours of studying and hard work Esther dedicated to fast-tracking her graduation.
"I had to take winter and summer session classes, but you can't be afraid to put in the hard work, even if you feel like you're doing too much, because it eventually comes back around to you," she says.
After starting UNT and finishing her high school internship, Esther's hard work was starting to pay off. She recently received a part-time position offer from The Fragomen Law firm , which will become full-time after graduation. Going forward, she plans to take a gap year to get more experience working in law, as well as study for the LSAT and start building her resume to apply to law school.