Thank you all SO much! - UPDATE 8/23/18

Summary: My Journey

I am Sumbul Siddiqui, a 25 year old American-Muslim wishing to pursue medical school. Alhamdulilah, I was recently accepted to Loyola Stritch School of Medicine (my dream school!) in Illinois. I have worked hard and long to arrive at this point. I am also what is known as a "DREAMer." President Obama created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) back in 2012 for children known as "DREAMers," who travelled to the United States under the age of 15. While DACA provided some benefits, it does not provide any pathway to citizenship. With my DACA status and the uncertainty that now prevails about the future of the program, I find myself in need of community assistance to cover the costs of going to medical school. Please read on for more details. 

More About Me: My Story

I was born in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia on Dec. 5th, 1992. My parents originally came from Pakistan, but my father had already settled in Saudi Arabia at a young age. His father passed away when my father was in his teens, and as the eldest of 5 children, he travelled to Saudi so he could help support his family back home. Eventually, my hard-working father became the manager of a traveling company, and visited Pakistan whenever he could. He met and fell in love with my mother, and they were married. My mom then joined my father in Saudi where  my younger brother and I were born. ​My mother always dreamed that her kids would speak English eloquently and have the best education.

Thus, I arrived in the United States when I was only 4 years old and have called Georgia my home ever since. In 2011, I graduated from Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA.

My father and me at my high school graduation. 

Like most other Dreamers, I didn’t find out about our immigration status until I started applying for colleges towards the beginning of my senior year of high school. Although the DACA program did not exist at this time, my devastation and shock at this new defining personal trait as a "Dreamer" inspired me to persevere. Despite my high GPA and extracurricular activities, not one public university would accept someone like me. Nor did I have access to Federal Aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the HOPE scholarship - both of which students most heavily rely upon. I started reaching out to private universities, and Alhamdulilah, I was accepted to Agnes Scott College as an international student with private scholarship funding.

I was the first person in my family to have the opportunity to go to college. My parents were devastated as the barriers I had to face became clear to them. My beloved mom sold her marital jewelry to lighten the financial hardship, and I eventually was able to work part-time each semester. I also did my best to take on extra classes so I could graduate early.

My mom and me at the Islamic Center of North America (ICNA) convention.

I entered college on the premed track. It was distressing and motivating to watch as my parents and community members delayed seeking medical treatment until their conditions worsened because they had no health insurance and/or feared deportation. I dreamed of becoming a physician to help them. My premed advisor had warned me that I had very little chance of being accepted to medical school. No public medical school in Georgia accepted DACA applicants. I was heartbroken, but I knew I should not give up. Allah SWT would find a way for me in the future somehow. 

Medical school is, of course, a very competitive program. Most students apply for health/research internships during their undergraduate years to boost their application. There are a lot of federally funded programs from the National Institute of Health to Research Experience for Undergraduates/National Science Foundation, including local research programs. I purposely applied to many of the programs and met all of the requirements, except for citizenship status, and was thus repeatedly rejected. I sought other ways to make myself competitive. I volunteered at the DeKalb Medical Center, Shifa Clinic, Women’s Feminist Health Center, and the Al-Farooq Free Clinic. During the summer months, I assisted my professors in their labs.   

Even though DACA provided some hope, I was constantly reminded about my status because of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raids. Families were often separated, and I learned how to interact with law enforcement, ICE officers, lawyers, and judges. I knew that my family was one of the few fortunate ones that managed to stay together. DACA had allowed me to get a work permit and drive to school without fear of deportation. I was ecstatic to start working at Dunkin Donuts and provide for my family and help with tuition! I attended school in the mornings, worked in most evenings, and continued to volunteer on the weekends. Agnes Scott College had soon hired me as a part-time Biology tutor. By the time I graduated college, I also had a better, more realistic, understanding of the American immigration system.

I am member of the class of 2015 (December graduate 2014), graduating Magna Cum Laude with my Bachelors of Science in Neuroscience. 

The Journey Continues

After graduating, I started working as a medical assistant/scribe. I gained experience in ophthalmology, gastroenterology, primary care, and psychiatric services. Some medical schools had finally started accepting DACA applicants! I was hopeful, but the November 2016 election changed everything. President Trump ended DACA on Sept. 5, 2017.

When 2017 began, I knew I could no longer be the quiet, timid girl who kept to herself and hoped for the best. While I had not given up on my dreams of medical school, I knew I must also speak up for my undocumented, immigrant community.

Below are some of my advocacy efforts:

4/19/17 – "Creative Loafing," a weekly newspaper published in Atlanta, sponsored a discussion at the Center for Civic Innovation called “Social Studies: Undocumented Under a Trump Administration.” I shared my story along with two other DREAMers and with other prominent speakers.

9/04/17 -  I was a speaker at this DACA rally/march in Atlanta that took place in front of the Atlanta Detention Center . This was the first time I announced to an open crowd before hundreds of demonstrators that I was undocumented/DACA/DREAMer.

9/13/17 - In a radio interview with Rose Scott on WABE (90.1 FM), I spoke with other undocumented individuals about the importance of the Dream Act. On 3/05/18, we spoke again about our personal progress and current status of DACA/DREAMers. Click on the picture for a link to the show.

10/03/17 - 10/05/17 - DC Advocacy Trip with FWD.us. I was the only female in the Georgia delegation team of 5. We engaged with members of Congress from Georgia, including Congressman John Lewis, pictured above, their staff and the media along with other DREAMers from across the United States.

12/07/17 - I was invited to speak to political candidates at La Madeleine Cafe in Dunwoody, (north Atlanta) to share my story. I spoke on the urgency of a clean Dream Act and the importance of looking beyond the “bad vs good immigrant” to truly and effectively reflect on immigration reform.

1/25/18 - Activist Linda Sarsour, co-chair of the 2017 Women’s March, facilitated a live-stream Facebook video with me to inspire participants to join the Muslim phone bank to advocate for a clean Dream Act.

Some of the articles I’ve been featured in:

9/06/17 - Los Angeles Times: Who are the ‘Dreamers’ whose dreams have deferred? You might be surprised. In this article, I discussed misconceptions including barriers to healthcare.

1/31/18 - Atlanta Journal Constitution “Georgia conservatives fear a Trump betrayal on immigration.”

2/07/18 - Atlanta Journal Constitution “Five things to know about DACA amid federal government shutdown debate.”

Medical School: Acceptance 2018

Despite advocacy efforts and small victories, the medical schools that had started considering DACA applicants became skeptical. Without DACA, we would no longer be given a work permit, which is needed for future doctors in order to apply for residency. My chances of medical school seemed bleak, but Alhamdulilah, I was surprised to receive an interview!

I have now been officially accepted to Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, class of 2022. Loyola Stritch was the first medical school to open its doors to DREAMers back in 2014. I am completely grateful to Allah SWT for the journey thus far.

Only 32 DACA applicants were accepted out of 49,669 medical school applicants across the States for this cycle (2017-2018). I am 1 of 12 DACA students that have been accepted to Loyola Stritch School of Medicine out of their 10,000 applicants.

Unfortunately, DREAMers like me who were accepted this cycle still continue to face financial barriers for medical school. Unlike our classmates, we cannot apply for FAFSA or any federal loans/scholarships. At this time, private funding that was available in the past is uncertain given the political situation of DACA.

Your Role: How You Can Help

I am asking for your support to help pave a path toward furthering my dreams of attending and ultimately graduating from medical school. Your support now will help me to eventually establish a clinic for the most underserved in our community.

1. Donate on LaunchGood right now!

2. Make a sincere prayer that Allah SWT grants me success in my studies so that I can help my community in the best of ways. Also requesting duas for safe transitioning into Chicago!

Cost of attendance for last year’s entering class (class of 2021).

In total, I understand that $80,000 is a daunting amount of money but my journey thus far has always seemed so impossible (and nothing is impossible for Allah SWT). 

I am hoping to raise all or most of this amount in order so that my last resort will be to take out a minimal private loan if I can qualify. I am also busy researching and applying for the rare scholarships that I may be eligible for.

As of NOW, inShaAllah, my goal will be to raise money for living costs + books/supplies! 

*UPDATE: Alhamdulilah - we have raised up to $10,000! We will increase the goal to $20,000 so we can include some of the other expenses and tuition. This is absolutely incredible!! Thank you all so much! 

Thank you! I intend to make you proud!