Aster Devick: ‘It brought people closer.’
Aster Devick is a senior at the University of Minnesota majoring in sports management with a minor in leadership.
“My name’s Aster. I’m a senior at the University of Minnesota. I grew up in Maple Grove, but I was adopted from Ethiopia. I was adopted around the age of two, almost three. I grew up with two sisters, one of whom was adopted. My parents are white and my other sister’s white.
“I’m from Maple Grove, which is about 30 minutes outside the Twin Cities. I wanted to go to college close to home, but also go to a big university, so the University of Minnesota was my best option.
“Growing up, my family would always come to the Twin Cities during the weekend and do fun activities, so it was nice going to college close to downtown and experiencing the cities. My dad would make us go to the museums all the time. They used to have markets by the Guthrie Theater, and we’d go there on Saturdays, just kinda do whatever. But we’d always spend one day during the weekend in the cities doing something.
“Thankfully for me, I haven’t had to worry about having any ICE encounters, but I have taken extra precautions, making sure I have my extra documents that prove I’m a citizen and being careful about where I go around the cities. Probably not going out where we’d usually go when we would have our adventures when I was younger.
“Most of the time, when the ICE surge was really bad, I was in Maple Grove, which was kind of lighter than what was going on downtown.
“I feel like Operation Metro Surge brought people closer together. I mean, it also divided people’s political views, you know, some people thinking it’s okay and other people thinking there needs to be change. But I feel like during this time, especially during the protests, you can see how big of a community Minnesota is. We aren’t gonna stand for something that is trying to tear the city apart.
“It makes me feel very proud and safe even throughout this period of time, knowing there’s a community, if something were to happen to me or happen to someone close to me, that there’d be people that would show up and protect us and the community.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview by Jordan Venell
