At My Undocumented Life, we provide up-to-date information and resources for undocumented students. Most importantly, we strive to provide a sense of community— a place where we can share our experiences and advice, support each other, and connect with fellow undocumented students and allies all across the country.

We are always looking for guest contributors who can share their experience and advice with our diverse group of readers. And we want to hear from YOU.

We are currently looking for posts from:

• Undocumented high school students who discuss the challenges and strategies of disclosing one’s immigration status during high school, strategies for seeking support from teachers/counselors, or advice on preparing for life after graduation (whether that means applying to college and/or securing employment).
• Undocumented college students who can speak about their personal experiences about pursuing a higher education while undocumented, including advice they would give to fellow undocumented students.
• Undocumented graduate school students who can share their experience/advice about navigating the grad school application process while undocumented.

Length: A post can range in length from 800 to 1,200 words.

For examples/inspiration, check out Ramon’s post on applying to grad school, Karla’s experience in law school, or Alexis’ advance parole experience. 

Some examples of what NOT to write about:

• General advice about college that is not specific to the undocumented student experience.
• Advice that is not related to the topics of education and immigration.

Next steps: Once you have written your post, e-mail us the following materials to myundocumentedlife@gmail.com

• • A polished draft of your post (as a Word doc file) that has been checked for grammar and spelling, and meets the length requirement (800-1,200 words)
  • Your first name (or pseudonym) and a bio (3-5 sentences that describe you and your work) that will be published with your post if approved.
  • Picture to go along with your post that connects to the content you wrote about and any necessary information about its source (e.g. link, photo credit). This picture will be placed at the beginning of your post and should communicate to the reader what the post is about. It should not be a picture of yourself. For example, if you wrote a post about applying to private colleges, the picture you submit could be a collage of 3-4 private colleges. If you wrote a post about applying to college, it could be a picture of college application materials. These are just some quick ideas. Feel free to be creative with the picture you submit.

Please note that given our limited funds we are unable to provide monetary compensation for posts submitted under this open call.

To help you write a high quality post, here is what we will look for:

• Does the post provide advice or information about navigating higher education that is specific to being an undocumented student?
• Does the post contain original content (meaning it hasn’t been published elsewhere before)?
• Is the post anywhere between 800 to 1,200 words in length?
• Did the author provide their first name, picture that relates to main content of the post, and bio?

Once your polished draft is reviewed, you will hear back from us with a decision within four weeks which can range from:

• Full approval with minor or no revisions;
• Conditional approval with some moderate revision; or
• Unable to approve post at this time, would require major revision

If you have any questions/concerns, don’t hesitate to e-mail us at myundocumentedlife@gmail.com