The Dreamer Diary

Did you fall in love with the podcast only to be left wondering what happened to it? You're not alone. A lot has happened since the last episode and this episode will catch you up on what's happened and where the podcast is going.

Emmy award winner, Arleene Correa Valencia discusses her immigrant story and how it led her to a career as a storyteller, artist, and advocate for immigrant rights. Across several themes, she discusses how art, pop culture, and immigrant narratives play an important role in determining immigrant identity, culture, health, and humanity.

Lorena Vargas Schultz is one of the most successful female entrepreneurs in the roofing industry. In this episode, Lorena discusses her journey as an immigrant to the United States and despite the challenges that accompany being undocumented, Lorena used her drive and willpower to get a full-ride scholarship at a prestigious university. She became a professional opera singer in New York City and later started a roofing business in Florida that has become a leader in the industry.If you would like to contact Lorena for additional information, you can reach her by visiting her website at https://internationalroofs.com or by emailing her at [email protected]

Adriana describes how she overcame tremendous adversity, poverty, and limited resources to start a business and pursue a career in a male-dominated field. In Adriana's triumphant journey as a dreamer who studied chemical engineering, she landed an internship with Nasa and eventually became a successful businesswoman and a leading dance instructor.

This episode explores how immigration-related stressors can increase suicidal ideation and risk due to the distress associated with cultural stress, marginalization, and intergenerational conflict, in addition to PTSD and other psychological disorders. Ayesha Kadri, an accomplished author and licensed professional counselor, joins me to discuss these issues and to share her own immigrant story.

As the first DACA dental student at UCLA, Carlos Villalvazo shares his story of sacrifice and struggle in this episode. His goal is to provide guidance and support to other dreamers who want to aim high despite their financial and other limitations. With this podcast, he hopes to create a network of other dreamers who want to go to dental school. If you would like to connect with Carlos, you can find him on Instagram and Facebook.

This episode discussed the conditions that force many undocumented immigrants to consider marriage to a US citizen as the only way to remain in the country.

Yahrtib Alais, Salt Lake City's leading Hispanic realtor, is featured in this episode. "Y", for short, talks about his experience as a DACA recipient and how he decided real-estate investing was for him. Y talks about the importance of investing in real estate for undocumented communities and offers recommendations to help people get into their first home.

Joaquin is a DACA recipient and attending the University of Utah's medical school as the only dreamer student. In this episode, Joaquin talks about his journey to the U.S. and what led him to pursue a career in medicine. His story describes how he overcame extreme adversity, high school costs, and the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic to become a leader in his community and field of study.  

The episode discusses the impact of being an undocumented person in a mixed-status family. Chris discusses how a family member belittled him and threatened him because of his status and how he overcame this experience to achieve his goals and dreams.