Carolyn Morales is the most independent 21-year old I’ve ever met. She lives alone in her apartment and, at the time of our interview, was baking a chocolate cake for herself after a long day of work. Carolyn graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute this past summer and has already started a full-time job at AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company in Worcester. Although she lives in Worcester, Carolyn is originally from the district of La Cruz, Costa Rica, which is over 4,000 miles away. In my conversation with her, she made light of the situation she’s in and seemed to be the kind of person to always find the silver lining in any situation.
Carolyn Morales is the most independent 21-year old I’ve ever met. She lives alone in her apartment and, at the time of our interview, was baking a chocolate cake for herself after a long day of work. Carolyn graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute this past summer and has already started a full-time job at AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company in Worcester. Although she lives in Worcester, Carolyn is originally from the district of La Cruz, Costa Rica, which is over 4,000 miles away. In my conversation with her, she made light of the situation she’s in and seemed to be the kind of person to always find the silver lining in any situation.
La Cruz is a relatively small area with 11,000 inhabitants, the majority of whom work in agriculture or in fisheries. There has been a gradual increase in tourism which Carolyn attributes to Costa Rica being the “happiest country”. She grew up on the Guanacaste Mountains bordering Nicaragua where her mom is a chef, and her dad is a biologist. She doesn’t live at home anymore, and the last time she saw her family was the previous Christmas, but she still holds La Cruz very fondly in her heart. She was also raised in a Catholic environment, something that she carries with her in Worcester and helps keep her strong when she feels homesick.
Coming from such a beautiful country, and leaving her entire family behind, I wondered why Carolyn decided to come to school here. Laughing, she said, “There are good state schools, better than private, but I wanted something different. Even though I love my country, I’ve always had the curiosity about what was out there.” Leaving Costa Rica was obviously a hard decision, but it was important for her to follow her dreams, and get to know an environment other than what she was comfortable with. Studying abroad had always been a goal of hers. She knew she wanted to be a chemical engineer, so she worked hard all throughout high school in order to do well on standardized tests and learn English through TOESL, an association dedicated to teaching the English language.
Prior to coming to WPI, Carolyn had been to America once, and it was her visit to campus. When I asked her what her thoughts on Massachusetts were before and after living here, she smiled widely. “I thought America was a crazy huge place when first coming here. Everything looked so fascinating, but that stage rubbed off real quick.” She had to transition from speaking Spanish 24/7, to only occasionally, such as when she would see another native speaker at school or when talking to her parents on the phone. Seemingly worst of all, she didn’t have access to her favorite Costa Rican food, something she clearly missed from her mom. She thought that the area was cool but overall had a stressful atmosphere. “Everyone’s always in a rush. Hispanics are always late! They live in the moment and like to enjoy what they do.”
Carolyn is now an expert on the inner workings of obtaining and maintaining a visa. She took a deep breath before launching into the dozens of rules, papers, and meetings required to immigrate here. When she was at WPI, she had a student visa. In order to go to school in the United States, you not only need to get accepted into the institution but also accepted into the country. She had to show proof of acceptance and payment in order to be interviewed by the US embassy and then to finally be approved. After getting the visa, she was allowed to work, but only for an on-campus job. This is because the school needs to be responsible for what the student does. During the summer she could work elsewhere, but naturally, this required even more paperwork. Carolyn is an extremely hard working person, and on top of being a member of the sorority Alpha Xi Delta at WPI, she also held multiple jobs to support herself.
For her International Qualifying Project, Carolyn was able to go to Thailand. She explained that while this was possible with a signature from the school and verification upon return, she is now unable to leave the country. “Well, it’s not that you can’t leave,” she explained, “you can, but you just can’t come back. I would have to stay home for a minimum of a month in order to get the new paperwork to be able to return.” After graduating, her student visa expired. In order to stay here to work, she had to obtain an Optional Practical Training, or OPT, visa. Like the student visa, there are a lot of regulations, and it is very stressful and time-consuming process to figure out. One of the most notable features is that you are required to be working in the field that you graduated in. If she wanted to become a teacher, she would not be able to, and it would be violating her contract. Although her job title is currently a ‘chemist’, she hopes to obtain employment in her degree, chemical engineering. For now, she takes what she can get in order to keep her work visa.
What keeps Carolyn going every day, is the knowledge that her family is supporting her every step of the way. Although she has no family members here with her, she still keeps close to home by talking with them every night. No matter what is going on in her life, she makes the time for them. “It never stops being hard but my parents know why I came here and that made it more bearable. Not 1% of them doubted me, or thought that I wouldn't be able to do it.”
Carolyn Morales is the most independent 21-year old I’ve ever met. She lives alone in her apartment and, at the time of our interview, was baking a chocolate cake for herself after a long day of work. Carolyn graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute this past summer and has already started a full-time job at AbbVie, a biopharmaceutical company in Worcester. Although she lives in Worcester, Carolyn is originally from the district of La Cruz, Costa Rica, which is over 4,000 miles away. In my conversation with her, she made light of the situation she’s in and seemed to be the kind of person to always find the silver lining in any situation.
