My mother tried her best to isolate me from the challenges our family had to face in the process of being able to access government services. The Bank of America Student Leadership Summit in Washington, DC was not only inspirational but made me realize how much representation underrepresented ethnicities need in the system. Being able to experience the LIFTopolis simulation showed me how many struggles low-income families face daily.
Many weeks have gone by since my experience with LIFT and I am still familiar with the storyline I was given. I was a 35-year-old woman who had just become a legal resident in the United States and I had a husband who was in the process of getting his green card, so I was not receiving any money from him. I had two daughters under the age of 10, one diagnosed with asthma. My goal was to apply for health insurance for my daughter; however, I was scared I’d be rejected because of my status.
This was the moment when I realized I did not know where to start. I tried to match a service theme to my goal. Once I saw the “Health Insurance” sign I waited in line and once it was my turn the worker asked me for my social security number, proof of identification, income, and citizenship. I did not have any of that information. Of course, this was a simulation and the workers were giving us a real representation of how some systems work. I asked her where I could get the documents she just asked of me, only this time I was not acting. I was genuinely confused.
I was invested in my story and wanted to reach my goal. Through this process, I asked some student leaders about their storylines, goals, and the steps needed to reach their goals. By doing so, it gave me a better understanding of how to navigate the simulation to better reach my goal. Throughout this whole process, I experienced being sent to the back of the line, being ignored, and organizing protests. In the end, I was unable to reach my goal.
I learned that we need better ways to make government services more accessible and recognize that the workers who are hired play a vital role. Workers in this system need to have empathy and a passion for serving the underrepresented.
After my experience, I called my mother and told her about the simulation process. I thanked her for being a strong woman and navigating the government systems alone and I recognized her struggles even more. This greatly changed my perspective and inspired me to help my community and expand on the resources needed to help navigate the system better.
Thank you so much LIFTopolis.
Lucia Gomez Luis is a Senior at RFK Los Angeles High School of the Arts