Which was a problem, because she was suffering from a painful ruptured eardrum, and the tears made it worse.
Reyes, a history and Latino Studies major, is the first in her family to graduate from college. Her work at Dartmouth, including a senior thesis gathering migration histories and immigration and labor stories from the people of Puebla, Mexico, was largely inspired by her family history.
Now home in Passaic, New Jersey, Melissa is surrounded by a familiar community that includes seven siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and a surprisingly large number of people who, like her grandparents, came to Passaic from Mexico.
"It's a full circle moment," Melissa says, from INS and factory raids to today's ICE arrests that recall the stories she has collected going back for generations. And while history repeats, Melissa is armed with new insights and skills. In places where justice has failed, Melissa knows where to look for information, where to find helpful resources, and who to talk to in relevant institutions. During her time at Dartmouth, Melissa kept one foot in the archives, and another on the streets, including her role as co-director of the FUERZA Farmworkers Fund in the Upper Valley.
The recent recipient of a Lombard Public Service Fellowship as well, Melissa is continuing her work gathering stories. "I feel it's important to document people's experiences," she says, and clearly she loves the work. These stories, we agree, are empowering. They give people pride and combat the sense of loneliness they often suffer as social outcasts.
Melissa is currently applying for the graduate programs the Beinecke Scholarship helps to support, with $5000 disbursed last summer, and $30,000 when she is accepted. She's applied to Cornell, Yale, Princeton, Rutgers, and Penn State, to name a few, and hopes to continue studying Mexican migration to the East Coast.
Melissa is driven, yes. But there's more joy than anger in her voice. She knows how to find support and community—from her freshman year at Dartmouth, finding mentors, including Matthew Garcia, and Annelise Orleck. At home in Passaic, she's surrounded by other "Poblanos," people from Puebla. Everyone pitches in to help get through these troubled times, from groceries, to childcare, to spotting ICE in the neighborhood. A local organization, Mi Casa Es Puebla, hosts gatherings and events. "There's strength in numbers," Melissa sees. "I want to help raise our profile, cultivate our visibility." This work is not without risk. In interviews, Melissa has learned to share her own stories, share vulnerability, and build trust. "I hear someone hesitating to open up, and I'll share a story from my own family. They see that they are not alone, that others have gone through the same incredibly difficult experiences."
