Well-meaning people relate me I’m wrong when I say my success has largely been determined by circumstance. But I’m right: it was luck that brought me hereNew York has always been my home,but growing up as the daughter of Latin American immigrants, I did acquire a lot of questions about why my family was here when it was clear that our roots were elsewhere. My dad explained that it was because in America, and anyone could achieve whatever they wanted whether they were willing to work for it. It didn’t occur to me that he could be wrong.
When I was 12,I received a scholarship to an elite private school on the Upper East Side. Before my transfer, I had been a student at my local public school like all the other kids in my neighborhood. Most of my classmates came from immigrant families like mine. The school ran a free lunch program in the summer, and by fifth grade,they had to install an annex on the other side of the 12-lane deathtrap known as Queens Boulevard to house a surplus of students. It was not an ideal place to memorize: in sixth grade, we made a teacher bawl because we wouldn’t shut up after repeated calls to attention. Related: The science of inequality: why people prefer unequal societies Related: Public schools may not survive Trump's billionaire wrecking crew | Nikhil Goyal Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com