Mexico International Study Opportunity for Learning (MISOL) Program

The MISOL (Mexico International Study Opportunity for Learning) program trip was truly larger than life. The combination of the work from the Steering Committee, the knowledge of the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México) staff, and the unity of the cohort turned out to be an ideal recipe for an amazing program for dacamented folks that had never been created in Wisconsin. After many years without being able to return to their country, this trip meant coming home in many ways for the participants; coming home to learn about their past, their relatives, their culture, their history; but most importantly to learn about themselves.

As we know, being DACAmented often means not having access to higher education, being at the UNAM allowed the students to take classes and workshops with faculty with an incredible amount of expertise and passion. The MISOL cohort gained so much knowledge about Mexico through their full schedule, for the first two weeks, they took part in their own ethnographic research. Once they gathered with the UNAM, for the rest of the month, they perfected their Spanish, learned about the local history, the history of Mexico, and immersed themselves in engaging workshops around important Mexican traditions and celebrations such as a tamaliza con rosca de relles and learned about the environment through edible and medicinal plants. To make their enrollment official, the students received their UNAM student ID and the steering committee received their visiting professor IDs.

The cohort also connected with many emblematic places such as Taxco, Xochicalco, Tepoztlán, Las piramides de Teotihuacán, La Casa Azul de Frida Kahlo, El Zocalo, El Museo de Antropologia, La Secretaría de Educación Pública, La Basilica de Guadalupe, Ciudad Universitaria de la UNAM, Chapultepec, and Xochimilco.

We couldn’t be happier with how this program turned out. The MISOL cohort was an outstanding group. All 18 participants were truly invested in the program, from the historical and cultural aspects as well as the group coherence. The outcome of the entire program was outstanding in programming and the joy that was shared.

A huge thank you to the wonderful MISOL Steering Committee for their work and incredible dedication as well as all of the volunteer attorneys, the staff from UW Continuing Studies and the UNAM, and the MISOL participants who trusted us with this vision and put so much effort into being part of something great. 

The second cohort of the MISOL program was more than what we could have imagined. For a little while, the steering committee contemplated if planning for a second cohort was a bit much right after coming back at the beginning of January with the first cohort. However, the level of impact that the program continues to have was a determining factor. Being away from home for so many years is a feeling of indescribable longing; longing to return to the land that gave birth to you, even when you may only have dream-like memories or sometimes memories that were not yours but merely passed from others; longing to meet family members you’ve known your whole life but only through a phone screen and pictures. And so, through MISOL, this summer community members were able to hug their family members for the first time in decades or in some cases for the first time ever. During the participants’ ethnographic research we saw pictures and cheered for each other embracing their siblings, parents, and old parts of themselves; all a part of their healing.

As we know, being DACAmented often means not having access to higher education. Through the MISOL program, participants were able to be university students at the UNAM, and take classes with experienced faculty. Once the group came together after their individual ethnographic research, the cohort had a full schedule, they perfected their Spanish, learned about the history of Mexico, and gained knowledge about important Mexican traditions and ways of being. They also connected with many emblematic places such as Tepoztlán, Las pirámides de Teotihuacán, La Casa Azul de Frida Kahlo, El Zocalo, El Museo de Antropología, La Secretaria de Educacion Publica, La Basilica de Guadalupe, Ciudad Universitaria de la UNAM, Chapultepec, Xochimilco and more. The MISOL cohort gained a lot of knowledge about Mexico, their language, culture, and history with the expertise of the UNAM staff.

The Steering Committee created this program with a lot of intention behind it, and we are extremely proud of what came out of it. It has taken a lot of work and dedication and has been absolutely worth all of the work. The combination of the Steering Committee, the UNAM staff, the support of Continuing Studies, and the unity of the cohort turned out to be an ideal recipe for another amazing program for DACAmented folks that had never been created in Wisconsin.

A huge thank you to the wonderful MISOL Steering Committee for the incredibly hard work and insurmountable dedication as well as all of the volunteer attorneys, the staff from UW Continuing Studies, the UNAM, and the MISOL participants who trusted us with this vision and put so much effort into being part of something great.