At a time when there is much controversy over immigration, border security and immigrants being relocated from New York City to the suburbs, including Yonkers, here is a feel-good story about one immigrant”™s journey to the American Dream.
Walter Morales is not only a new U.S. citizen; he”™s a new graduate of Manhattanville College in Purchase.
Morales came to the United States at age 16, starting as a day laborer and working his way up in jobs until he landed a post as a custodian in the Bedford Hills School District.”¯
With encouragement from a teacher there, Morales continued his education, studying at Manhattanville on scholarship and graduating from the college Saturday, May 13. His lifelong dream of becoming a teacher is on its way to becoming a reality. Morales, who is in an accelerated program, hopes to have his master”™s degree by next May so can start teaching Spanish.”¯
It”™s a far cry from his situation in his native Guatemala, where he escaped from an abusive foster home. “Life has not been as easy as I thought it was going to be,” he said. “But without the Manhattanville scholarship, this would never have happened.”™”™
At Manhattanville”™s May 13 undergraduate commencement exercises, his wife and 2-year-old daughter McKenzie were on hand to witness that dreams do indeed come true.
For more, visit mville.edu.
