The Long Drive by Dan Cortez

Traffic... Bad weather... It can take me 20 minutes to get to school!

Thats only minutes more than usual, but I still complain.

But my cousin Maria drives from Mexico... all the way to Texas so she can attend school there. How does she do that?

Every Monday morning, she gets up at 5:00 a.m. to get on the road. Sometimes it takes her three hours to get to school. She often waits over an hour to cross the border.

Marias dad lives and works in El Paso. They are both American citizens.

Although Marias family lives in Mexico, her father stays in El Paso where he has a good job. He works hard to support his family. It is a big sacrifice to see them only once in a while.

Although Maria travels hours to school, she never complains. Like her dad, she wants to get ahead. She knows she is lucky to go to high school as a United States citizen.

Maria lives with her mom and siblings in Mexico on weekends.

Other students who illegally cross the border risk their lives to go to school here.

Luckily, the guards are more worried about drug smugglers, so the students get off easy. Some are caught by the Border Patrol.

Each year about 400 people die trying to cross the border between Mexico and the United States.

When I think of Maria and those other kids, I feel grateful just to be able to go to this high school!