Transition

The American dream means something different to everyone. To some, it is the justification of a bright future, to others it means hard work is ahead, and to even more it is unattainable. Mayra is a sophomore at the University of Redlands. She has been my community assistant and my close friend since the beginning of the 2013-2014 school years. I talked with her about her view on the American dream. Mayra emigrated from Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico in 2003 when she was nine years old to El Paso Texas. Her parents wanted her older sister to be able to take IB classes in an American high school. Mayra was going to a private, Christian elementary school. The principal expressed her concerns that Mayra, who at the time was not able to speak English, would not do well enough in a private school, and that her parents should send her to a public school. Mayra’s father, Arturo, refused to change his plans for his daughter. Mayra went to the private school. She said the transition to a new, English-speaking, American environment was very difficult. Her fellow students did not understand that Mayra was trying to learn English as her second language.  Although Mayra was a quick learner, she was able to read, write and speak English fluently within six months, she said that the other students laughed at her when she mispronounced words or used them incorrectly. They avoided her at recess and gave her the silent treatment for weeks at a time. They even started jokes about Mayra, saying that she stole from stores. Like a lot of bullied kids, Mayra spent time on the Internet, playing games and joining chat rooms. She said it helped her learn English and American culture.

As time went on, school became easier for Mayra and she gained lifelong friends and a community she still visits every year in El Paso. I asked Mayra what the American dream meant to her. “The American Dream would be the belief that in the United States you can achieve anything as long as you work hard and give it your best to achieve it.” Mayra worked hard to overcome language barriers, authority figures who did not believe in her because of her background, and insensitive classmates who ridiculed her. I then asked her if she believed the American dream was still attainable, whether it was still alive. She said, “…I do believe it is attainable, because looking back at where I used to be and where I am now, I am definitely doing better than I would have had I stayed in Mexico.”