“Sobre la vida de un Don” is about a day in the day in the life of a transgender Latinx USF student and his thoughts about his identity as a Don and the American Dream. He discusses how the tuition increase affects his daily life and the action he took against it. Many people romanticize the idea of the American Dream and what they assume it means. In that they see it as a source of hope for financial gain and better opportunities. In reality we see that much of what the American Dream is, is preventing marginalized communities from achieving said dream. I was inspired by Jaime Cortez’s graphic novel Sexilio which discusses the life of an immigrant transgender Latina’s experience with HIV/AIDS and crossing the border. She describes in the novel what she thought her life would be like in the United States but when she crossed the border she found her fantasies did not come true. Overall, I believe the idea of the American Dream is warped and in this comic you’ll find I’m not the only one who thinks so. 

Panel 1: An image of a sign that reads "Dons for Fair Tuition" with dollar signs around the words

Panel 2: A conversation between two students. The student on the right is colored in blue and has a speech bubble above them that says, "Hey man, what ya lookin' at?" The student on the left is colored is colored in red is staring at the aforementioned sign and has a speech bubble above him that says, "Did you hear tuition's going up?"

Panel 3: A speech bubble that reads, "¡¿Otra vez?!"

Panel 4: The student on the right that is colored blue has a speech bubble above them that says, "Bro, did you eat today?" The student on the left that is colored red has a bubble next to his stomach that says, "GRUMBLE." The student also has an exclamation point next to his head and a speech bubble above his head that says, "No, I'm saving money."  

Panel 5: The student that is colored red has a thought bubble above his head with the images of a chest binder that is crossed out, and a testosterone shot. Above the images are the words "TOP SURGERY."

Panel 6: The student that is colored red is at the top of the page, has an exclamation point next to his head, and a speech bubble above his head that says, "I shouldn't have to choose between a meal and being MYSELF!" The student that is colored blue is at the bottom of the page, has a question mark next to their head, and above them is a thought bubble that says, "What are you gonna do?"

Panel 7: The head of the student that is colored red is at the center of the page and with a light bulb next him. There is a speech bubble above him that says, "I'm gonna make sure they finally realize the reality transgender students face and how student debt affects all of us in different ways."

Panel 8: At the top of the page is a thought bubble that says, "STOP THE VOTE!" Below there is a picture of two windows with people inside. Between the two windows is a sign that reads, "BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING." Below there are two speech bubbles. The left speech bubble says, "Education is a Right!" The right speech bubble says, "Not just for the rich and White!" Below the speech bubbles are two fists.

Panel 1: At the left is a red textbox that reads, "On January 23, President Paul Fitzgerald announced..." At the center is the head of the student that is colored read and next to him is a speech bubble that says, "I would never call a country like the United States one that lifts you up into success because it doesn't."

Panel 2: At the left is a red textbox that reads, "New rates of tuition, room, and board." At the center are images of the United States and Puerto Rican flags with a speech bubble next to them that says, "I see it [the American Dream] as a huge blanket of pressure on all my peers."

Panel 3: At the left is a red textbox that reads, "effective Fall 2020." At the center is an image of the wall otherwise known as the border that separates the United States and Mexico with a sun shining through the bars. There is a speech bubble next to the image that says, "following a formulaic route to success that isn't built on the sense of true passion but what works best and pays best."