We’re learning the hard way. This edition of B-Side is about a group of people struggling to learn, to make it in college. And we’re not talking about the usual too many units not enough time kind of trouble. These students are undocumented immigrants – most brought here by their parents when they were too young to have any say in the matter. And now they’re dealing with the consequences.

There are all kinds of difficulties those of us who were born here would never even think about. Tam Tran, a graduate student at Brown University in American Studies helps us navigate the issue. Tam is undocumented.

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Karen Weise is a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism, where she focuses on radio and investigative reporting. She has worked at ProPublica and Southern California Public Radio. Weise has freelanced for Marketplace, The World, The San Jose Mercury News and others. She came to journalism from a business background after graduating cum laude from Yale University with a double degree in Architecture (urban studies) and Ethnicity, Race & Migration.