Aliento Features: Mirna Macedo

A Little "Different": My Story as an Aliento Fellow

My name is Mirna Macedo. I am a junior at Arizona State University, double-majoring in Political Science and Business Data Analytics with a minor in Justice Studies. I am also a Dreamer.

I am the proud product of immigrants. My mother is from Honduras. My father is from Mexico. They raised me in a multicultural household where diversity and inclusion weren't just accepted, they were celebrated. From an early age, they pushed me to take on challenges and embrace opportunities. Education and community were everything.

I grew up in South Scottsdale, attending Title I schools that were predominantly Hispanic. My community was full of people who looked just like me. And yet, I still felt like I stuck out.

I remember the day I was sat down at our family's dining table and told I was "different." I was eight years old. Mismatched chairs. A colorful tablecloth. Fruit paintings and angel sculptures on the walls. I waited what felt like forever for the conversation to begin. I could see the worry and guilt in my mom's eyes, the woman who had raised three ambitious children, lived in three different countries, and worked her entire life tirelessly. That's when she told me I would need to work twice as hard and do twice as much as my classmates. That I wouldn't have the same opportunities others had.

I couldn't understand why the country that had watched me grow up since I was one year old would treat me as an outsider. I felt deep anxiety, not just about my own future, but about my family's. Why would a family that had given everything they had not be allowed to experience the American Dream that had been so deeply ingrained in us?

Despite that weight, I held myself to high standards. I threw myself into the gifted program, honors and AP classes, career development competitions, and community service. I did everything I could to be a productive member of a country that didn't fully recognize me. But by the end of high school, the disillusionment had set in. Higher education felt like a distant dream. Was everything I had worked for for nothing? Would I ever make my parents proud?

Then I found out about Aliento.

Resilient leaders had fought for and helped pass Prop 308, a law granting in-state tuition to Arizona high school students regardless of immigration status. My childhood friend and former fellow, Fatima Lopez, brought me into this world during my senior year of high school. She invited me to arts and healing events and Education Day during my freshman year of college. I finally found a space where my story was understood, and my potential was valued.

After two years of involvement, I applied for the fellowship. During my time as a fellow, I have shared my story with peers, lobbyists, legislators, and the Governor of Arizona. I never thought I would advocate for my community at that level.

I see a bright future ahead for all of us who are a little "different."