We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story Quotes
"The moment I see my dad, a slender fifty-nine-year-old man with more salt than pepper in his hair, I feel my throat begin to close up."
"Our stories are one and the same, our destinies forever intertwined and defined by our sweat, our sacrifice, and our unyielding dedication to defying the odds and achieving the impossible."
"Most importantly, this book tells the story of an immigrant dream that is shared by the tens of millions of families who made the same journey as mine."
"My name was meant to be a reminder of my parents’ journey and the sacrifices that they made along the way."
"Leaving the window open overnight was strictly forbidden; Năinai had a brother who passed suddenly when they were both children."
"Despite being born at a time when the country was plagued with food shortages and declining birth rates, my dad somehow made out okay."
"While the Americans were experimenting with marijuana and LSD, my father was fighting the system by dabbling in . . . learning?"
"Life in Changping was every bit as tough and exhausting as you’d imagine."
"On her last day in Changping, her fellow peers gathered outside their clapboard dorms to watch as she and the three boys loaded their luggage into the back of the tractor and headed away from the camp forever."
"He walked through the airport and marveled at this strange and foreign land he had just entered."
"I can totally see my poor thirty-year-old father at one of ASU’s famous pool parties, timidly stepping over passed-out frat bros on the ground."
"It was, after all, a period of unlimited freedom and discovery."
"It was a fine gesture, and one that he would surely have taken in the absence of other options . . . but my dad wasn’t looking to simply survive; he wanted to thrive."
"This wasn’t an easy decision for my dad to make."
"You turn away from me again, tell me can't you feel this way?"
"If you’re not the best, you will be poor and nobody will love you."
"This woman literally force-fed herself sardines every single day when she was pregnant with me, because she had heard that they would make me smarter."
"Nobody forced us to come here, we made a choice to immigrate."
"If I got anything less than a glowing review from any of my teachers, they would just come home and unload on me."
"Passing by you in the rain, hope to see you smile (just maybe)."
"I caught glimpses of a picture-perfect family through the friends I made and through TV and movies."
"I was just a moderately intelligent kid that was raised with a bit of a head start."
"Yelling at him. It doesn’t really help, but it makes us feel like we’re doing something!"
"He is a garbage kid. He is useless, and stupid."
"My parents could have fostered a collaborative environment... instead, they treated me like a punching bag."
"I really, honestly started feeling like I had the worst parents of all time."
"In order to survive, I’d have to... man the hell up."
"My parents ceased to be my guardians and protectors—and became my enemy."
"You should stop comparing me to other people."
"Compare?! Don’t flatter yourself; you’re nothing like Cheryl, and you never will be."
"I was finally untethered, finally free—I could be whoever I wanted."
"I was a troubled child plagued by insecurity and self-doubt."
"By the end of my sophomore year, I was staring at an average that was too low to get into the prestigious program."
"Despite all of the fights that we had, they were still committed to the idea of giving their child what they themselves never had growing up."
"Everything had to be a statement, a loud one."
"I think it’s really important for you to hire a candidate who is able to self-motivate and rise to challenges."
"I didn’t need my parents in order to feel happy, or listened to, or loved; I had my friends for that."
"In life, I’ve come to realize that all big breaks come from a small handful of people who are willing to stick their neck out for you."
"You can’t control how or when they come into your life; you can only control your own professionalism and preparation level."
"As I’ve continued to work for other shows, I’ve really come to realize how rare a fun and collaborative work environment is."
"What she did for me went beyond just paying me to do a job; Diane saw something in me."
"Even at my peak level of exhaustion, there was a little voice in the back of my head reminding me how fortunate I was to be in this position."
"In order to survive, I had to learn how to embrace something greater than just myself."
"Sometimes you have to rock the boat a little bit, and other times... well, you’ve just gotta ditch the boat and find a new one."
"My brain exploded; someone as famous as Ken wanted to email with me?!"
"I wasn’t the only cast member to feel this way, and many of us attempted to voice our concerns to the show’s producers to little avail."
"It’s not like I actually believed that I could book the job—I was just cracking a joke."