While My Underground American Dream is ultimately a story of triumph, it also reminds readers to look beyond appearances and realize that everyone has issues that cannot be immediately seen. Afraid of being deported, she did not let anyone but close friends in on her secrets. Advisors may never know what is below the surface of what their students tell them because Arce hid these problems from most people in her life. Not only does this book shed light on the myriad of problems associated with being an undocumented immigrant, but Arce also points out other issues she struggled with, including: absent parents, domestic violence, an alcoholic father, and parenting a sibling. While this story has a happy ending, Arce first received a green card and then eventually became an American citizen, there are many tense moments that highlight the fear she lived in. When she began to work on Wall Street, Arce felt she had achieved her dream and yet she still was fearful of being deported.
Her college experience also exposed her to a diverse group of people who she had more in common with than her high school. But she began to meet more diverse people whom she had more in common with. After helping her parents’ entrepreneurial efforts, she enjoyed learning the best practices of business through her coursework and student organizations. 104).Īrce excelled in business school at the University of Texas. However, House Bill 1403 in Texas allowed “undocumented students to attend public universities, pay in-state tuition, and receive financial aid” (p. She thought that college was out of the realm of possibility since she did not have a social security number. Arce worked hard to help her parents in their businesses and helped to provide for her family at a young age while also striving to do well in school. After her parents failed to have her visa renewed she began to live in fear of being discovered and separated from her family. She originally came to the United States as an 11 year old to go to school while her parents had legal work visas.
Julissa Arce tells her story of over overstaying her visa in My Underground American Dream. Wayne State Univeristy, Detroit, Washington Post reports that in 2016 740,000 illegal immigrants overstayed their visas, making the topic of undocumented immigrants timely and relevant (Dinan, 2017). Undergraduate Advising, Mike Ilitch School of Business My Underground American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive (2016).
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