Dan-El Padilla, a phenomenal student may be unable to attend Oxford because of his current illegal status. Twenty-one year old Padilla fears that if he leaves America and goes to England, he will not be able to return to the United States. ABC reporters say that Princeton was not aware of his illegal status and one of his professors says that they overlooked it. Dan-El Padilla tells ABC that he hasn't made his decision yet.
After pronouncing his speech in Latin, Dan-El Padilla tells reporters that there is a big chance he might not be able to continue his studies. His story begins when his mother came to America to give birth to Dan-El's brother. She applied for a temporary visa so she could give birth to her son in a US Hospital. Padilla's mother decided to stay in America but her husband returned to the Dominican Republic. While Padilla's mother was broke she stayed over at a friend's basement until there pipe busted and she had to leave. She then tried staying at a local shelter in the Bronx and then in Chinatown. Living on only $80 per month Padilla's mother sent him to PS 2 where he found interest in books based on Greek and Roman classics.
Later on Padilla received help from an amateur photographer, Jeff Cowen, who was able to help Padilla enter an elite Manhattan school in the 7th grade. Many of Padilla's teachers overlooked the fact that he was an immigrant and Princeton gave him a full scholarship. While keeping a 3.9/4.0, Padilla was awarded a two year scholarship to Oxford University in England a He was able to fill out a legal petition which may give him a student visa so he would be able to return to the US after he has completed his studies.
I think that Padilla is one of the many lucky people because not every foreign person is able to attend a school like Oxford. I always thought that different people were always unique. I hope Padilla succeeds in his studies and continues to impress everyone.
