Portraits of Resilience: Victor Morales [Tech.MIT.edu]

Editor’s Note: Portraits of Resilience is a photography and narrative series by Prof. Daniel Jackson. Each installment consists of a portrait and a story, told in the subject’s own words, of how they found resilience and meaning in their life.

I am an immigrant from Mexico. My mom raised me and my two siblings all by herself. My dad stayed in Mexico. My mom struggled a lot; she never learned English. Halfway through third grade, I was placed in an English-only class, and by fourth grade, I was outperforming most of my peers.

I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. I would watch shows on TV with my brother’s friends. They would make fun of gay people all the time, so I got into that same homophobic trend. I didn’t want to be attracted to men.

I was very overweight. When I started high school, I was weighing myself every single day. I lost about 70 pounds that year. I was hoping people would notice and treat me differently. Girls started paying more attention to me and I made friends. People were still making fun of me that I was gay, but at least I was happier with myself.

When I got into MIT, my mom said, “No, you can just go to the community college here.” But when I told my dad, he realized it was the MIT, and he said, “Wow. You have to go.” When my mom heard him, she of course supported me.