During the recent graduation season, a number of African immigrant students were lauded for receiving scholarships to Ivy League institutions, graduating in significant numbers and leading the pace in graduation levels compared to other immigrant groups. There are reasons why first-generation African immigrants are winning the race to the top. I have a few personal observations on the key qualities that make us successful at work and school. These qualities are profoundly tied to our immigrant story.
Many of today’s African immigrants have stories that began in the early 80s, including mine. My parents exchanged our affluent middle-class lifestyle in West Africa for the American dream, and like many immigrants of that time, my father’s multiple degrees from the UK didn’t transfer over to the US. He was stuck driving taxi cabs for many years to make ends meet as he slowly obtained a US degree.
Starting life all over again at the age 42 with a wife and four kids was tough. My mother did what she could to hold down the family. She worked multiple jobs as a nursing – a fancy job title for someone who changes bedpans at a nursing home. We lived in low-income neighborhoods where playing outside was not an option. We were expected to learn everything we could about America and assimilate, but not enough to lose our focus on our education and the end goal, living the so-called American dream.
My story isn’t unique. Replace my name, Janet Asante, for “Kwame Baffour,” “Evelyn Mensah,” or “Grace Boateng” and you’ll have a similar narrative. One thing rings true throughout our stories: by observing our parents’ hardships, we’ve learned some good work habits and some bad. Our approach to our work and school is no different. The work ethic of first-genners is strongly influenced by the struggles we have lived through. Here are few of my observations:
We are driven, to a fault
Our parents struggled in low-wage jobs which gave us all kinds of feelings. We watched the light grow dim in their eyes as they slaved away at low-wage jobs. We only knew them as the heavy-shouldered, bleary-eyed, emotionally absent caregivers they had become. We longed from an early age to want to hurry up and become adults so we could help lighten their burdens.
That eagerness to make it under all circumstances drives us to a fault. We are committed to finding every avenue to be successful, even if we are in a crappy work or school environment. To us, nothing is worse than failing. We do not yield to failure; we’ve seen what it looks like to feel like a failure.
We want meaningful work
Bolstered by the overall millennial generation’s sentiment to make an impact on this world, first-genners are pushed a step further by not wanting a career that boxes us in and sucks us dry of all passion and life goals.
We’ve learned first-hand that the safe careers our parents coveted such as nursing, pharmacy and accounting won’t cut it for us. We want meaningful work and aren’t afraid to start a side hustle to make it happen. We no longer accept the premise that “safe careers” will see us through. We are confident in our abilities, we push boundaries and we actively seek work that we care about. Some of us are even looking for opportunities to return home and solve systemic problems which will help us contribute on a larger scale.
