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from My Immigrant Family Achieved the American Dream. Then I Started 5

4 4 4 4 to Question It .
Amanda Machado
A writer and activist, Amanda Machado (b. 1988) focuses on the intersections between Amanda Machado
race, gender, travel, and the environment in her work. She writes on a range of
topics — such as power and privilege, the outdoors, socially responsible travel, wellness
and spirituality, and Latinx identity — for a range of publications, including the Atlantic
magazine, the New York Times , the REI Coop Journal , Vox , and the Washington Post .
A former Teach for America Corps member, she currently lives in Oakland, California.
The following is an excerpt of an essay that was published by Vox in 2017.
In summer 2007, I returned home from my freshman year at Brown University to the new
house my family had just bought in Florida. It had a two-car garage. It had a pool. I was on
track to becoming an Ivy League graduate, with opportunities no one else in my family had
ever experienced. I stood in the middle of this house and burst into tears. I thought: We’ve
made it.
That moment encapsulated what I had always thought of the “American dream.” My
parents had come to this country from Mexico and Ecuador more than 30 years before,
seeking better opportunities for themselves. They worked and saved for years to ensure
my two brothers and I could receive a good education and a solid financial foundation as
adults. Though I can’t remember them explaining the American dream to me explicitly, the
messaging I had received by growing up in the United States made me know that coming
home from my first semester at a prestigious university to a new house meant we had
achieved it.
And yet, now six years out of college and nearly 10 years past that moment, I’ve begun
questioning things I hadn’t before: Why did I “make it” while so many others haven’t? Was
this conventional version of making it what I actually wanted? I’ve begun to realize that our
society’s definition of making it comes with its own set of limitations and does not necessarily
guarantee all that I originally assumed came with the American dream package. . . .

1) The American dream isn’t the result of hard work. It’s the result of hard work,
luck, and opportunity.
Looking back, I can’t discount the sacrifices my family made to get where we are today. But I 5
also can’t discount specific moments we had working in our favor. One example: my second-
grade teacher, Ms. Weiland. A few months into the year, Ms. Weiland informed my parents
about our school’s gifted program. Students tracked into this program in elementary school
would usually end up in honors and Advanced Placement classes in high school — classes
necessary for gaining admission into prestigious colleges.
My parents, unfamiliar with our education system, didn’t understand any of this. But
Ms. Weiland went out of her way to explain it to them. . . .
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ms. Weiland’s persistence ultimately influenced my
acceptance into Brown University. No matter how hard I worked or what grades I received,

Immigration and the American Dream CONVERSATION
79
Copyright © 2021 by Bedford, Freeman & Worth High School Publishers. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
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