‘I’m American, and …’: How being a hyphenated American can give you power

When Erasmo Arturo Montalván first came to the United States in eighth grade, he knew no English. He graduated high school with a 1.4 GPA, a tendency to get into trouble and little idea of what kind of career he wanted to pursue.?

“I had so much trauma accumulated from my years in Latin America,” says Montalván, whose mother is Brazilian and father is Honduran. “I almost got expelled because I used to get into so many fights. But my mom, she said that the only way to level the playing field was through education.”?

And so, Montalván went to school. It was during college that he started to come into his own as a first-generation student and immigrant. He went on to receive two Master’s degrees — one from Harvard, another from George Mason University — and become an educator himself. Today, he is fueled by a desire to level the playing field for others. This week, we hear Montalván’s story and learn about the power of being a hyphenated American.?

Use the chances you’ve been given?

Although Montalván grew up with his fair share of difficulties, but he still acknowledges the privileges he was given. This became clear to him when his mother signed him up for community college after he failed to receive acceptances from any other school, he says. After spending years slacking off in classes and graduating high school with a 1.4 GPA, he found himself among classmates that included single mothers, like his own. He quickly realized that continuing to coast would not only disrespect the opportunities his mother paved for him, but hurt others like him as well.

“In community college, I saw mothers who worked graveyard shifts, who had kids just like me, going to school because they thought it was important. That was the aha moment —?I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m such a punk.’ That’s what transformed me to realize, education is the way, it’s the focus.”

Language is a gift

While Montalván says he often felt like an outcast growing up, he still wears his immigrant identity as a badge of honor. He can speak Spanish and Portuguese, which has proved useful when speaking with others who have difficulties with English. He says he has been able to build connections with non-native English speakers, recalling one instance in high school where he used Spanish to communicate with a woman who had been assaulted in his neighborhood in Chicago. He and his friends were able to help the police track down the perpetrator.?

“When I spoke Spanish, it calmed her down,” he remembers. “We were able to connect.”?

You can help others learn surprising truths

Like many immigrants, Montalván came across countless naysayers as he navigated his career, and his own identity. He recalls the dean of his high school saying he went from “a hero to a zero” after he continued to cause trouble and fall behind in his classes. But he used that feeling of being discounted by adults as fuel, and committed to be a support system for students like he once was.?

“I didn't want other kids to experience what I experienced because I just didn't have the support and the mechanisms to navigate it all,” he says.?

A few months ago, Montalván made a pivot to the tech industry and accepted a position at Microsoft as a business development manager. (Editor’s note: Microsoft is the parent company of LinkedIn.) Even with 15 years of professional experience and skills that easily transfer from the education space to tech, he still runs into people who are skeptical about his abilities.

“Those moments where folks in the workplace ask, ‘How are you here?’ or ‘Why are you here?’ are really opportunities for me to help them," he says. "Because it's ignorance. And I don’t expect to change everybody’s perspective. But if I can help them walk away with a surprising truth that they didn’t know about themselves or the world, to me, that’s a win.”