The Stories That Don’t Get Told

We hear the same immigrant stories over and over.

The hardworking father who came with nothing and built a business.
The straight-A student who defied the odds and got into Harvard.
The refugee who fled war and found safety on new shores.

These are real. These are important.

But what about the others?

The immigrant who never “made it” but kept going anyway.
The one who never learned the language and spent their life in quiet isolation.
The one who worked three jobs and still couldn’t afford to bring their family over.
The one who wanted to go back home but couldn’t—because too much had changed, or too much had been lost.

Not every immigrant story fits neatly into the American Dream.
Not every journey ends in success.

But that doesn’t mean those stories don’t matter.

Because if we only listen to the stories that inspire us—

We miss the ones that tell us the truth.