Meet Regina Garcia Garcia

Regina Garcia Garcia, a second-year student at the Carter School with a concentration in Building Peace in Divided Societies, found purpose in working with immigrants and first-generation college-bound students.

She was born in Mexico City, but her father is an engineer and his work required the family to move frequently.  Over the course of ten years Regina lived in four different countries, including England, Chile, and the United States. Regina noted, “It was difficult to adjust. Moving around so much when I was younger, I didn’t have the opportunity to build lasting friendships or really connect with the places we lived. As I grew up, I built my identity from little parts of the places and people I encountered. But despite how I felt or tried to fit in, I was always seen differently. I wasn’t ‘Mexican’ enough for Mexicans, and not ‘English’ enough in the U.K.” She notes that her experiences also gave her a unique perspective: “So many experiences in different cultures gave me the ability to connect and empathize with people from different backgrounds. And due to my ‘outsider’s’ viewpoint, I became very aware of the inequalities in those cultures. It fueled my fire to work in humanitarian aid.”

In 2015, at the age of ten, Regina’s family moved back to Mexico, an eye-opening experience after so much time living abroad. Due to the prevalence of kidnapping and femicide, she wasn’t permitted to travel alone–only with family members or male, trustworthy friends. “I had to take more precautions than my friends who were raised in the U.S. were raised to take.” Regina also became aware of the harassment of journalists in Mexico, due to the lack of protections provided by the Mexican government. She noted that Mexico is one of the most dangerous assignments for a journalist outside of an active war zone.

When asked about her thoughts on these issues in Mexico, she replied, “There’s a lot of work to be done. We can either accept this as normal or we can work to change it, but it will be up to the younger generation.”

Regina and her family moved to the United States in 2018, where she attended public school in Fairfax County prior to enrolling at the Carter School.

Regina originally enrolled at Mason as a Global Affairs major, but after speaking with some Carter School students and learning about the program, she switched majors. “Carter students have a passion in them and are driven to make change,” she explained. “They aren’t afraid to acknowledge problems in the world, nothing is ignored. They speak their mind, even if others might not agree.”  Regina had found her people and the tools to help enact change.

Regina is also the co-president of UndocuMason (previously called Mason Dreamers), a student advocacy organization that supports immigrant students, which has existed on campus for approximately 15 years in one form or another. In March 2025, UndocuMason hosted an online presentation for parents in Fairfax County to help them understand the convoluted college process. More than thirty families attended.  

UndocuMason’s work also includes providing immigrant students and their families with medical and financial support. In March, UndocuMason hosted a tax/ITIN (Individual Tax Identification Number) workshop with a local tax preparation and filing services company to help families through the process of filing their taxes.

In March, Regina spent her Spring Break attending the “Yearning to Breathe Free Conference” hosted at Brown University. The conference brought together immigrant students from across the country to advocate for immigrant rights and to build connections with their peers from other colleges and universities. “It’s why I’m doing this work… and I know I’m not alone in this fight against inequality,” she noted.

In addition to her work with UndocuMason, Regina is a Fellow with the First Gen+ Center, run by University Life, where she has worked as a trainer for the past year, and plans to continue her work.

Looking forward, post-graduation, Regina would like to work at an NGO or nonprofit in support of refugees and immigrants.  “Everything I do is through a lens of empathy.”