DACA recipient is Ivy League bound

Stella Linardi knows what some people may think of her. As an undocumented immigrant, she says she often finds herself trying to prove her worth. Born in Indonesia, Stella and her family immigrated to the United States when she was just three years old. Stella and her family spent the next decade trying to save up enough money in hopes that one day, Stella could call herself a United States citizen. She received temporarily relief in 2016 when she became a DACA recipient. Her work outside the classroom is nothing short of exemplary. She served as co-president of the California Scholarship Federation and Future Business Leaders of America while at Whitney High. This fall, she began her freshman year at Cornell University, a prestigious Ivy League school. The future of DACA is still unknown. That means so too is Stella’s future in this country. It’s a sobering reality given the impact she’s made on so many people. So, in the meantime, she’ll continue to do what she’s done so well: change minds and change lives.