During Matt Mach's freshman year of college at Emory University, when he was asked by the Track and Field team to answer the question, "why did you choose Emory?" he answered by saying:

"Emory chose me."

But that quote was half-serious - Emory actually did choose him as one of the select number undocumented students it accepts every year. Very few undocumented students enroll in a four-year university, and it is a courageous action for an undocumented immigrant to take to even apply to college. His intellectual ability and skill - evident from being accepted to Emory, a top 20 university - bears comparison to Larissa Martinez and Mayte Lara Ibarra, two Texas high school valedictorians who declared they were undocumented immigrants in their graduation speech.

"'Emory chose me' is half-joke, half-backstory. It’s a funny way to refer to the minuscule percentage of undocumented students who receive four year degrees," he said. "Emory gave me the opportunity to sit among those privileged few, at the same time hoping that someday, the number won’t be so small."

Matt was born in Poland and immigrated to the United States when he was six-years-old, making him eligible for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). For most of his childhood growing up, his family lived below the poverty line.

"My parents both work, with my dad working two jobs, sixteen hours a day, six days a week," he said. "It was never easy, but I would not have the same bearing on the world if it weren't for my peculiar upbringing."

Matt's perspective on his upbringing, however, is incredibly optimistic - as is how he is not afraid to tell people he's an illegal immigrant, something I've been seen as his Facebook friend, and is never afraid to take a stand for what he believes is right, even when doing so puts himself at risk. He sees the hardships his family faced as the inspiration that put him in the position he's in now, as a student and a member of the Track and Field team.

"I most credit my grandmother and my dad," Matt said. "They are the hardest-working people I have ever met. They taught me about a lot of the major truths of life: truth; honesty; compassion etc. I am forever indebted to them."

Matt is a rising junior on the Emory Track and Field team and a philosophy and history double major. He specializes in the 200 and 400 meters, but ultimately it is the person himself who is the most interesting. A self-proclaimed Marxist and philosophy and history double major, Matt's openness about his status as an illegal immigrant has often perplexed me as a teammate.

"President-to-be Trump: I am Mateusz Mach. I am Polish. I am undocumented. And I fucking DARE you to come after me," Matt said on a Facebook post on November 9, shortly after Donald Trump was elected President.

"Isn't it dangerous to put that information out there?" I thought. But, these remarkable aspects about Matt pushed me to go the extra mile to write this article.

We can agree or disagree over various aspects of immigration, illegal or not. But for my immigrant parents, my being born in the United States was a mere lucky accident - my mother has joked about how her birth control failed her while they were on their visa (China's one-child policy). I am, however, a citizen just by virtue of something I never had control over. No one has control over where they were born.

As an undocumented student at Emory University, Matt has hardships that go beyond simply not being an American student or citizen.

"Simple acts, such as posting an Instagram photo of oneself abroad, bring to light the existential difference between us." Matt said. "Money is always a problem. We cannot afford to make any mistakes, legal or otherwise. We cannot get insured."

But knowing Matt is ultimately a privilege many of us on the Emory Track & Field team can afford. Although he has suffered from injury and hasn't run the times he wants, Matt is a phenomenal teammate - always willing to spend his entire day of a track meet next to the track, cheering for each individual that comes running or sprinting by.

There is somewhat of a social divide on the team between the distance runners on the team and the sprinters and jumpers, since we have an extra season in Cross Country of only distance running. But he has gone the extra mile to bridge that divide. He'll be the first to come up to you after a race and ask how you did, no matter who you are. At our parties, Matt is often the first to come and last to leave, even if the party is boring beyond belief. No matter how bad or how awkwardly executed my jokes are, he will always smile and crack up.

"I'm an easy laugh," he said.

He is, in short, the soul of a team whenever an individual member of his team has issues staying motivated and passionate about running. Through his life experiences, he has a wisdom about the little obstacles being just that: little. Dealing with his own injuries has given him a lot of perspectives to keep pushing, despite how hard it is for him individually, and keep his commitment to his team as strong as ever.

"I am very underdeveloped in this respect," he said. "I tend to just get into the 'grin and bear it' mindset and stretch more often and ice."

But it is his life experiences that give him the maturity to play the role of a mentor towards the rest of his team.

"Whenever a new difficulty arises and anyone questions their commitment to the track and field team," his teammate Zach Lembersky said. "Matt is there to provide the reality check that whatever we are experiencing may be inconvenient but is just a blip on the radar of the rich experiences that the team actually offers us."

Matt's perspective on the sport is incredibly unique - he sees the sport as more than a sport, more than an ambition to just keep running faster and faster, but instead an escape and way to forge lasting bonds.

One of the most popular and well-known alumni of Emory University, especially among the track and field team, is Christopher McCandless, the star character of Into the Wild. Chris McCandless is most associated with his venture into the Alaskan wilderness, documented in the renowned book by Jon Krakauer.

However, what a lot of people don't know about McCandless was that he was the captain of his high school Cross Country team, as well as an alumnus of the Track & Field team that both Matt and I are a part of. Most people on our team have either seen the movie or read the book on McCandless's odyssey across the country and into the Alaskan bush. But McCandless's outlook on running spoke volumes to his spiritual outlook on the sport.

His teammate, Eric Hathaway, recalled that as captain, McCandless would tell his teammates to "think about all the evil in the world, all the hatred, and imagine ourselves running against the forces of darkness ."

While not as grandiose - Matt has a somewhat similar perspective about the spiritual nature of running.

"Track has always been the escape," he said. "The mind and body have one task, and it must be completed with grit and precision. It’s visceral; it’s great.

"I firmly believe that those who struggle together form an important and necessary bond, and track gives me that," he continued. "I have met people that I consider family through track."

It is that last part - his commitment to people - that is a core part of his identity. Matt has strong leftist opinions but is ultimately very civil and engaging of opposing points of view - a characteristic not present in many students at Emory.

"I've always enjoyed talking to Matt about philosophy," his former teammate, Kyle Veator said. "and unlike most people in the philosophy major, while he does have his own opinions he's a lot more receptive to other's opinions, whether he agrees or disagrees."

"All opinions should be considered arguments," he said. In addition, his eventual career goals are to get a PhD in forced migration studies and history in Europe, topics that are very close to home. Because whether to his team or fellow undocumented immigrants, his passion and dedication to people are clear.

In his post-Donald Trump election post, he said: "I have privilege. I was born with white skin and blue eyes, and I speak English fluently. I can go home to a country that is not war-torn and be surrounded by caring family that I haven't seen in over a decade."

"However, I refuse to cower away and cash in my privilege while families continue to be torn apart. I refuse to negate the years of work my family and I put in to this country. I refuse to let this buffoon ascend to the presidency with ease. I REFUSE to be afraid."

In the cover photo of this article - Matt has a distinguishable quote written across his arms.

"Illegal Alien, But Ain't I A Human?"

It is a play on Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech at the Women's Rights Convention - widely known as "Ain't I A Woman?" Right before her speech, several male ministers spoke at the Convention and argued that women shouldn't have the same rights as men - they were weaker, less smart, and Eve was the first sinner of the human race.

Truth responded by reminding the ministers she was a former slave, and said of her muscular arms and past life:

"Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman?"

In 2016, Truth served as an inspiration for Matt's own crusade against the pejorative and dehumanizing way undocumented immigrants are referred."

"In my case, I am referring to that odious term - illegal alien, and how it contradicts human life," Matt said. "Needless to say, it is difficult to live in a country that uses the lowest language to hold you down."

Nowhere was this language more evident than in Donald Trump's rhetoric.Of those targeted by Trump's rhetoric, undocumented immigrants were among the most vulnerable.

But Matt's identity and character are not molded by Trump. He is more: an athlete, intellectual, great teammate, and above all a great human being. I asked Matt a pretty weird interview question - how would he describe himself from an outsider's perspective, something obviously anybody would have trouble answering.

He responded: "I don't think I can do that. I don't have a fixed perception of myself," he said. "But I try to come off as warm. I care a lot about people."

Above all, he is not afraid.