Hunger

Hunger is literally the only factor that matters.

I was at the NC IDEA summit today and heard one of the last speakers on a panel about regional economic development mention that everyone should be investing in immigrant communities. I was happy someone said it out loud. The American dream said that anyone with enough patience, grit, and determination could make it.

In my opinion, patience, grit, determination, and all the similar traits are not inherently teachable. The only way to learn those specific traits is through lived experience, sometimes ones that you choose and others that you're forced to experience.

An immigrant making it from their home country to the United States means they are already in the top 1% of luckiest, smartest, or most well-connected people in their country. They have suffered through trials and tribulations that most people here never will. They know what it feels like to fail, and if they haven't, getting to that tier means they