Ashley Martinez presentation

Over the last couple of weeks, our class worked on a project where we had to pick two topics from a list and then make a presentation about them. We had to research, connect them to real life, and talk about what we learned. I’m in Group One, and after a lot of talking, we chose immigration and healthcare. We picked these because they felt personal. Everyone in our group either moved here themselves or has family who did. So instead of just picking random subjects, we chose something that we actually care about and understand in our own ways.

When we first started talking about immigration, it felt like this huge topic. You hear about it constantly on the news, but you don’t really think about how complicated it is until you hear real stories. Some of us in the group came to the U.S. when we were younger, and we remembered what it felt like to be confused about everything. Some people talked about not knowing English and getting frustrated in school. Other people shared how their parents worked long hours at jobs that didn’t pay much because they didn’t have a lot of choices. Some of our families were scared because they didn’t know the rules or didn’t have papers. Listening to everyone made me realize that immigration isn’t just arguing on the news. It’s about actual people who are trying to make a better life.

Immigration has been a huge topic lately, especially with ICE. Almost every day there’s something on social media or the news about someone being detained or sent away. For a lot of people, this is just something they watch from far away, but for us, it felt close because we know people who have gone through scary situations. Some families live with this constant fear of not knowing what could happen. We thought it was important to include that in our presentation because it’s not just numbers or headlines. These are lives, families, people dealing with something a lot of us in our group have seen up close.

The second topic we chose was healthcare. At first, it seemed separate from immigration, but the more we talked, the more we realized how connected the two are. Everyone needs healthcare, but not everyone has access. Even people born here struggle to get insurance or pay for medicine, so imagine how hard it is for people who just got here. Some immigrants don’t go to the doctor because they’re scared their information might be used against them, and others don’t have insurance at all. We talked about how expensive everything is here, from regular checkups to hospital visits. People don’t go to the doctor until they absolutely have to, which can make things worse.

One really cool thing about this project is that one of the girls in our group lives in Spain. She was able to help us interview someone there about how their healthcare system works. That made our project more interesting because we weren’t just reading off websites. We actually talked to a real person. They explained that Spain has universal healthcare, meaning everybody can go to the doctor without insane bills. That’s super different from the U.S. It honestly shocked us because here, even with insurance, stuff is expensive.

From the interview, we learned that people in Spain don’t have to think twice about getting help. Doctor visits and medicine don’t cost as much. They don’t have to choose between going to the doctor and paying rent. It made us wonder why things are so difficult here. It also made us think about how tough it must be for immigrants who can’t afford to get help at all. If citizens struggle, immigrants have it way harder. We talked about how maybe the U.S. could learn something from places like Spain. Even though no system is perfect, it still seemed like people there didn’t have as much stress about healthcare as people here do.

While we were preparing our presentation, we tried to mix facts with real experiences. We didn’t want to stand up there and sound like robots reading slides. We talked about our families and how confusing life can be when you’re trying to figure out not only a new country but also a whole new medical system. We explained how scary it is when someone is sick, but you can’t go to the doctor because you’re scared or don’t have the money. I think our classmates were able to understand better because it wasn’t just random information. It was stuff that actually happened to people we know.

The other groups in our class were working on different topics. Some talked about education, some about mental health, the environment, or gender issues. Watching their presentations was actually pretty interesting. Everyone had a different approach. Some used statistics, others shared personal stories, and a few even used videos. Even though all the groups had different topics, a lot of the issues were connected. You could see how one problem affects another. It made us realize how complicated the world really is and how every issue has layers.

Seeing everyone present made us feel proud of our class. People worked hard and it showed. Everyone had something important to say. Even the people who seemed nervous still explained their topics clearly. The room felt supportive and positive. It was cool seeing what other people cared about and what they had learned.

Doing this project taught us a lot about immigration and healthcare, but it also helped us understand each other better. We learned that behind every issue there are real people and stories. It reminded us that life can be really difficult for people who move to a new country. Comparing Spain and the United States helped us see how different things can be and made us think about how the U.S. could improve. It made us more aware of how lucky some people are and how unfair things can be for others.

In the end, picking immigration and healthcare was definitely the right choice for our group. These topics reflect who we are and what our families have gone through. We hope that when our classmates watched, they didn’t just see it as another school project but actually learned something and maybe thought about these issues differently. We were proud of what we shared because it came from real experiences. This project wasn’t just research it was personal. It helped us understand the world a little more and made us realize how important it is to listen to people’s stories.