CONCLUSION

Conclusion

The American experience is what you make of it. It’s been 30 years since our family first crossed the Mexico–U.S. border. The expectation of what would follow far eclipsed anything a young group of Honduran siblings would ever imagine. As I lay forth this book to the world, I will be the first in our family to earn a bachelor’s degree in the United States. The achievement in itself far outreaches my effort; instead, it dates back to each of my family’s sacrifices in a long and winding road towards existence in the United States.

I often look at other Latinos in the food industry and wonder what lies beyond the uniform. As a nation, we’ve forgone evident parallels embedded in earlier immigration waves to that of the modern-day immigrant.²⁰ An immigrant today is caught in the storm of a political agenda rather than viewed as a contributing member of the United States.²¹ Instead of observing each and every immigrant as a statistical number, perhaps as a society, we can reconcile with a world that is more sympathetic towards a respectable immigrant identity.

Many of my peers fulfill similar roles within their own families—as first-generation Americans etching a path for the next group of kids. The responsibility is of utmost importance, as we should strive to maintain the humility of our roots and the bravado to desire more for ourselves. Regardless of our ethnicity, upbringing, and transportation method—the United States can be your home. In our family’s case, America was always open.