I Still Believe in the American Dream

Written by Paula Willison

From the Current 2025 Summer Journey

Paula and Family in Colombia on the day of their move to the United States

I remember, very vividly, landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and being the one to win the race into my dad’s arms. I was now in a foreign country, but I was home in those arms. Home in the country my mom had called the “land of milk and honey,” the land of opportunity, the land of the American Dream. Some would tell you the American Dream is dead. I would challenge those individuals and tell them that it is very much alive and well as I look back at my 25 years in this country. I’m an immigrant. A proud one at that too! I’m a professional Spanglish speaker, avid reader and blogger, the oldest child of Mitzy and Edgar, and Gabe’s college sweetheart. And for as long as I can remember, only three things were on my American Dream list: I wanted to pursue higher education at a college of my choice, I wanted to work somewhere I could make a difference, and I wanted to start a life with a man who not only loved Christ deeply but who could challenge and encourage me to live out all of my dreams. Growing up in Georgia, you either went to the University of Georgia or Georgia Tech. When the time came, I toured the University of Georgia, applied the second I could, and waited. Waited for the doors to swing wide open with my acceptance letter. But they never did. Though I was student body president, enrolled in honors courses, and in as many extra-curricular activities as you can list, it still wasn’t enough to get me into my dream college because of my immigration status at the time.

I was now in a foreign country, but I was home in those arms. Home in the country my mom had called the “land of milk and honey,”

For a long time, I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have a status that would allow me to drive like other teenagers, to go to whatever college I wanted, or to work. I was doing everything right, excelling in as many ways as I could in school, to compensate for what I didn’t have. I don’t blame my parents for this. In fact, I’m proud of them for following the calling the Lord placed on their life to bring our family to America. But the topic of immigration is a multi-faceted one that will only show you one thing: our nation’s immigration system is broken. It is hanging by a thread, and people who really want to be here, who want to contribute to the economy with all they have and all they are, are the ones most affected by its brokenness.

“For a long time, I was ashamed of the fact that I didn’t have a status that would allow me to drive like other teenagers, to go to whatever college I wanted, or to work.”

Though my parents attempted to get our processes underway the second they could afford to, a series of events led to a years-long process that I eventually aged out of. But thanks to the DACA program (Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), I was given a chance to attend college. Though it wasn’t the University of Georgia, a small school in Wilmore, Kentucky took a chance on me. ME, an immigrant, with little funds and a lot of big dreams. I’ll spare you the details of the application process and the multiple interviews I did for scholarships to tell you this, my senior year of high school I saw God breaking barrier after barrier to show me that He had bigger plans in mind for me than the University of Georgia could ever offer. Scholarships, financial aid, higher education. He was leading the way and opening the doors wider than I could have ever imagined. Having grown up in the Atlanta area, I visited CNN’s headquarters multiple times. I was set on being a journalist, focusing my college studies on journalism and public relations. But in 2014, an opportunity came up to be an intern with Samaritan’s Purse in Bolivia, South America. During the conversation with the recruiter, I shared some of my story, mentioning how God kept closing doors and offering me more than I expected through my second options. “Sometimes our second options are the ones that will change our lives.”

Paula and her parents Mitzy and Edgar during her high school graduation in 2012

“My senior year of high school I saw God breaking barrier after barrier to show me that He had bigger plans in mind for me than the University of Georgia could ever offer.”

That’s all it took from the recruiter for me to pack up my dreams with CNN to intern with Samaritan’s Purse internationally and then domestically, ultimately turning my second internship into a full-time role as a social media manager. I traveled the world and much of the United States in my 9 years with Samaritan’s Purse, working from sunup to sundown sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with millions of followers online, and I was proud of it! I couldn’t believe the work that God had called me to do. It was also during my time with Samaritan’s Purse that I became an American citizen. After years, and I truly mean years, of studying for the test, I was finally able – before God and an agent from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services – to swear an oath and become who I had dreamt of for so long, an American.

But in 2023, I felt a shift in my life. Turning 30 will do that to you. Maybe it’s something that happens with every new decade in life. I was working without reprieve, my health was starting to take a toll, and I was itching for something different. That’s where my husband comes in.

Paula during her time at Samaritan’s Purse in 2018

Gabe and I met our first week at Asbury University. As I said goodbye to my mom on move-in day in 2012 she said (and this is a verbatim quote), “You are here to get an education, not to fall in love.” A week later I met Gabe and we’ve been together ever since. He was one of the first people to truly know me for me. Not the overachieving high school girl who was working overtime to keep up so no one would know her legal status, but the part of me that had a broken identity. He loved me for who I was and what I could bring to the table, not for what I didn’t have.

Fast-forward to 2023, Gabe was the one person who could see what my career was doing to my life. He encouraged me to consider taking some time off to figure out who I was outside of my 9 to 5. Since then, I’ve worked directly with clients supporting their social media and writing needs through our company, Rad Dog Media, and he’s been my biggest fan as I walked back into the nonprofit world earlier this year to work at Wine To Water as their volunteer coordinator. He has always believed in me and all I could bring to the table. And now, as we become foster parents, there is no one else I would rather have by my side.

Paula and Gabe with family during their graduation weekend at Asbury University 2016

So, here I am. Nearly 32 years into the life that God has called me to. Proud of the immigrant I am and the American citizenship that I hold. Proud to be a daughter of the Highest who called me out of the places I thought I belonged and placed me into spots I never considered. There’s that phrase you hear now and then, “Don’t tell God your plans.” Well, maybe you should, so you can give Him the chance to show you something much greater than you could ever, ever imagine. A life so unimaginable that you’d never be able to think it up yourself.

My name is Paula Willison and this is my American Dream.