Hello! My name is Allison Li and I'm a second year double major in Psychology and Political Science here at The Ohio State University. When Elisabeth first introduced this field school to me, I was immediately interested. As a child of immigrants myself who also wasn't very familiar with the border issues here in Ohio, I decided to take up the opportunity and apply for the class.

My mother emigrated from China in 1997 and my father in 1992. Before getting citizenship in 2005, both had a green card. Fortunately, the pathway to citizenship was very straightforward for my parents. As a child, I imagined what immigration looked like in America based on my parents' story. Of course, as I got older, I learned that this is very obviously not the case for all immigrants who want to move into the country, given our political climate, national border issues, and corrupt immigration system.

Before this field school, I was only exposed to the stories of the undocumented community through media and news, so, this was a very new and eye-opening experience for me. Throughout my life, I have only been made aware of the humanitarian crisis that that people face at the southern border, and although I was aware that this is an issue that communities, individuals, and families face nationwide, it was never made apparent to me up until now. Prior to this course, I would not say I was completely ignorant, but I simply did not understand the magnitude of this issue. I only ever knew about my family's immigration story and what is covered on the news, but now, I know that there is such a large population here in Ohio, people just like you and me, who face the fear of being deported everyday, are separated from their families, and who do not get their voices heard simply because they have no papers.

Coming from a place of privilege, I have never had to think about the idea of being separated from my family or losing a home. It is something that I take for granted so often, yet, the communities we talked to have sacrificed the comfort of their house, culture, and intimacy in their native country to move here for a better future. I want to talk a little bit about what "home" means. To me, home is not necessarily a physical place, but somewhere where people think of you and care for you (a sense of relatedness). This can be my family, my friends, or any community I belong to. During these two trips, we have heard many stories from speakers about how their life was distorted, how their families were separated, how our system has obscured their whole being, how they were internally torn apart from their situation, and how they lost their home. However, despite all this, we also saw a great community of non-profit organizations, services, and neighborhoods come together to form a safe place, a "home" for undocumented families and individuals. I think the highlight of this trip for me was not only learning the facts, listening to stories, and having open discussions, but seeing how people come together to combat this issue and form a sense of "home."

My knowledge base on border issues and activism was very slim to begin with: however, having the chance to get an in-person view on the issue head on has really allowed me to explore topics that I was never educated on, but wanted to know more about. I think it was really important to hear the individual stories told from our speakers on this trip since storytelling through lived experiences is often so important to include in our activism rhetoric. With the information we have gathered and presented in the previous tabs before this, our class hopes to spread information and awareness about what is going on here in Ohio in regards to border issues.

I want to finish this off by expressing that I do acknowledge my privilege of being able to have an education and go on this trip--to have this experience. Additionally, I want to thank all the groups, organizations, and individuals who were kind and brave enough to share their story as well as Dr. Borland and Dr. Aubry for facilitating this whole trip. I realize that as an educated, English-speaking citizen, it may have not been my place to ask for their stories and for others to educate me on such topics, but through this reflexivity exercise, I want to be able to learn what steps I can take next in the future to do better and to participate more in spreading awareness of these dominant issues we face in our modern world, without ever forgetting where I come from and where I stand.