This high school valedictorian bravely revealed her undocumented status in her graduation speech

Larissa Martinez held a 4.95 GPA and took 17 AP classes throughout her high school career, so her place as valedictorian of McKinney Boyd High School’s class of 2016 was most certainly well-earned. That’s exactly why she took the opportunity to give a speech that busted all stereotypes about undocumented immigrants.

“Many of you see me standing up here and assume that my life must be pretty great. My parents must be very proud,” Larissa said during the school’s graduation ceremony in McKinney, Texas on June 3rd. “Nevertheless, I think it’s important to note that those are only half truths. Those are the expectations. My reality has been quite different.”

Larissa explained that on July 11th, it will have been six years since she and her mother moved to McKinney from Mexico City — where she was born in raised — to get away from her abusive and alcoholic father. “[I was] a girl. . . who had to depend on her mother’s strength,” she said. “A girl whose only dream was to somehow become an American.”

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