In the final hours before the vote at Texas A&M for student body president, Jose Luis Zelaya shook a few more hands, asked for few more votes, and proudly explained to those who inquired why he can be an Aggie and an illegal immigrant.

Zelaya, 24, is a graduate education student in College Station. He came to the U.S. from Honduras with his mom when he was 14, graduated from Langham Creek High School in Houston and dreamed of being an Aggie from the first day his mom found an “Aggie Mom” t-shirt when, homeless, she stayed at an immigration shelter.

“I believe I was predestined to be an Aggie and it’s an honor,” he said. “I am willing to do everything, whatever it takes to be able to help the next generation to go to college, to motivate them. To tell them about a little kid who used to be homeless and is now in college.”

Zelaya attended Lone Star Community College in Cypress then transferred to A&M to complete his undergraduate degree. He and his family pay for his education a semester at a time. He even crochets and sells knit hats or beanies, often maroon and white, to help pay for his classes.

But can you be an Aggie and be an illegal immigrant? Yes, Texas law allows him to go to college. As of fall 2006, anyone who has lived in Texas for three years before graduating, or receiving a diploma equivalent from a high school, and has also lived in the state for a year prior to enrollment in college, qualifies for in-state tuition as a Texas resident.

Read the full story at KHOU.com