DAN-EL PADILLA PERALTA
UNDOCUMENTED

 
UNDOCUMENTED: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League evocatively recounts Peralta’s remarkable journey from the New York City shelter system to the Ivy League. Born in the Dominican Republic, Dan-el Padilla Peralta came to the United States legally with his family at the age of four. Life in New York City was harder than they imagined, and when their visas lapsed Peralta’s father returned to the Dominican Republic. But Peralta’s courageous mother was determined to make a better life for her sons. Without papers, she faced tremendous obstacles, and following eviction from their apartment, the family went into the city’s shelter system. Peralta was only in grade school, but had a passion for books and learning, and the shelter’s meager library became his refuge. It was there that Jeff, a young volunteer, noticed the boy’s sharp mind and keen interest in studying. With Jeff’s help Peralta was able to obtain a scholarship to the Collegiate School on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the oldest private school in the country. Throughout his youth, Peralta navigated between two worlds: the rough streets of East Harlem and the ultra-elite halls of a Manhattan private school.