In this article, the authors introduce a theoretical framework for discussing the relation between favela students' life conditions in relation to their educational experiences and opportunities. A group of five students from a favela in a large city in the interior of the state of São Paulo in Brazil was inter-viewed. The students were invited to look into their future and explore whether or not there could be learning motives relating mathematics in school and possible out-of-school practices, either in terms of possible future jobs or further studies. Four themes were identified: discrimination, escape, obscurity of mathematics, and uncertainty with respect to the future. Students in a favela could experience what the authors call a borderland position, a relational space where individuals meet their social environment and come to terms with the multiple choices that cultural and economic diversity make available to them. [Originally published in the inaugural December 2008 issue of the "Journal of Urban Mathematics Education" ("JUME").]