My name is Dra. Sinai Cota, and it’s a great honor to to share my story, made possible through the care and support of BLCI, its staff, donors, volunteers, and cheerleaders.
I went to Barrio Logan Elementary School, but I joined BLCI in the 10th grade. My time there was brief but powerful—it came during a moment in my life when I needed guidance the most. In high school, I didn’t have a home and was sleeping on my friends’ couches. BLCI became a safe haven for me —with snacks, support, and smiling faces. It felt like home.
My mom was deported when I was in 6th grade, and my dad was in and out of my life. For a time, my aunts stepped in, but by 8th grade, I was on my own—relying on the kindness of neighbors and classmates to stay enrolled at Mission Bay High School.
By senior year, I was eager to leave San Diego and go far away. With the help of BLCI and AVID, another college prep program, I applied to thirteen universities, over twenty scholarships, and even flew across the country visiting schools. Getting away felt so exciting. And in the end I chose to attend San Diego State University (SDSU) thanks to Jean Libby from BLCI, who helped me understand that staying local made the most sense because I could graduate debt free.
I received several scholarships including one from BLCI. I also qualified for federal and state grants under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act, so tuition and housing were covered. When I moved into my dorm, BLCI also gifted me a trunk filled with SDSU gear and dorm essentials. My mentors, Nancy and Rick Brusch, whom I’d met when I was 16 through a non-profit called Urban Life, helped me settle in. The universe—and Jean Libby at BLCI —knew exactly what I needed.
But that first semester truly tested my resilience and persistence. I got a phone call from my mom who told me my dad had been murdered in Mexico. I was numb for a while to survive the Fall semester. My GPA dropped to 2.7, and I worried about losing my scholarships. But I pushed through, in hopes of a better future for myself.
However, life as it usually does: LIFED at me. In the beginning of my second semester, I received some more upsetting news.
Financial aid told me I was no longer considered “homeless” because I lived in university housing—I’d have to provide my parents’ tax information to receive loans and no longer qualified for state and federal grants. I worked closely with Jean and my EOP advisor, Chia Her, to appeal. EOP is a retention program at SDSU that Jean helped me apply to.
We submitted the appeal, and it was rejected. Chia told me to set up a meeting to gain some more clarity on the decision. Something in my gut told me not to go alone. Luckily, Chia was available. In that meeting, I was told by the financial aid officer that I should go back and live in Mexico with my mom even though I was an American citizen, and that I was still financially dependent on her—even though she offered no financial support and lived in another country.
I had nightmares for weeks dreaming up different scenarios of how I’d be forcibly removed from my dorm room to be deported by financial aid officers.
But Chia and Jean didn’t stop fighting. Like superheroes out of a comic, they rallied a team of people to advocate on my behalf, and, after six people pushed with all their might, I had a second hearing with the directors of financial aid. That’s where I met Rose Pasenelli, who later became the Director of Financial Aid and personally reviewed my FAFSA to ensure I would continue receiving the same amount of aid every year. She even came to my graduation and celebration afterwards.
College was actually a lot of fun after that. I studied abroad in Italy, traveled to nine countries, and realized I loved school so much, and that there were whole careers working at a university campus and never had to leave!
I graduated from SDSU in 2014 and enrolled in USD’s Master’s in Higher Education. I moved out of the dorms and into my mentors’ family home. Over the years, I grew very close to the Brusch family. Nancy and Rick played a pivotal role in my life and stepped in when I needed a strong parent presence. Rick even taught me to drive at 23, so I could get back and forth from school. They even helped me get my first car. (Fun fact: I actually taught my husband, to drive years later.)
But at the end of my first semester of grad school, my mentor, Nancy, passed away suddenly. This was another extremely difficult part of my life to navigate. Luckily, the universe once again placed me with caring individuals at USD who helped me process my grief.
After graduation, I faced a year of job uncertainty. And in 2017, UCSD hired me to support doctoral students through a fellowship program where I matched students to peer and faculty mentors. It has been healing to be in this role because a long time ago, I found some incredible people to believe in me, BLCI believed in me and now I help students believe in themselves.
Working with other first generation college students inspired me to return to school, and in 2020, I entered UCSD’s joint doctoral program in Education Leadership Studies.
This was also at the start of the pandemic. Protests for Black Lives Matter took over the streets. I felt frozen by my trauma—but I wanted to help and didn’t know how. So I wrote to process my pain and gain some sort of control back. I turned those words into poems and self- published three poetry books. Today, I donate all profits to BLCI and Urban Life to support students like myself, go to college. I continue to volunteer with them regularly sharing my knowledge and experiences with other students and serving on local scholarship committees.
It is people like the Brusch Family, Chia, Jean & the entire BLCI network that all of this has been possible.
While I have shared a lot, I hope this stays with you:
You always have power.
Even when you think you don’t. Use your privilege and network to lift and defend others who need it most, move good causes forward. Because it is our responsibility. Together. Juntos.
