“Koinonia.” This was the word that won the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee. A young, soft-spoken 14-year-old boy named Karthik Nemmani took home the $40,000 grand prize. Karthik happens to be Indian-American and for those who are avid watchers of this competition, you may have noticed a trend. He is the 14th consecutive Indian-American champion. Actually, 19 of the past 23 winners are of Indian heritage.

Every day there is a new story centered on immigrants. Whether it’s about undocumented parents being split from their children, Dreamers, or travel bans you can’t escape this word. Unfortunately, it has been highly polarized and even villainized by some over the past few years. It has adopted a negative connotation lately as it is so many times now automatically associated with terms such as “illegal”, “undocumented” and “unauthorized” even for those who don’t even fit that bill. This is ironic being that the US is a country that blossomed from the immigrant mindset. We sometimes overlook the achievements and contributions made by so many immigrants and children of immigrants.

Let’s try this out. Think of five, current and influential medical doctors in the United States.

Go….

Maybe your list included neurosurgeon, Emmy-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta who simplifies medical news for millions of Americans weekly. Possibly cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Mehmet Oz came to mind. For those bookworms out there, you may have thought about endocrine surgeon and bestselling author, Dr. Atul Gawande. Maybe even pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu who brought to light the dangers of chronic traumatic encephalopathy crossed your mind. What do these doctors all have in common? They are all either immigrants or individuals born to immigrant parents.

According to a study by Johns Hopkins University following 10,795 adolescents into their 30s, children of immigrants performed (educationally and behaviorally) better than those with deeper roots in the U.S. Furthermore, those born in a foreign country who migrated to the US did better than those who were born in the US to immigrant parents. Those born in the US to immigrant parents fared better than those born to American born parents. The study showed that immigrant children tend to do better in STEM fields. Why is this the case?

Now back to the spelling bee.

The final three spelling bee challengers this year were all children of immigrants and all come from an area I am very familiar with. A few weeks ago, I visited a friend in that northern Dallas area. I followed him as he dropped his young son off at a tutoring program on a Sunday afternoon. I couldn’t help but wonder who else would be attending such tutoring classes on a weekend. This seemed like a perfect time for racing bicycles, going to the movies, or swimming. Well, the majority of the class (if not the entire class) consisted of children of immigrant parents. One could only appreciate the commitment these parents and children must have towards academics.

Immigrant parents have a special drive that often sets them apart from the crowd. Many have had to overcome the odds to travel to a new land with their families. Priorities are often centered on family and education. Parents want their children to be more successful than the earlier generation and the most secure way to achieve this is by climbing up the education ladder. As a medical student, I had an amazing and very bright roommate who received his student visa to work on his PhD in the US. I watched as he facetimed his wife and little children at midnight as they were 7 hours ahead. I watched him get homesick, struggle for transportation, and learn many little and big cultural lessons. After years of hard work, he defended his thesis, gained sponsorship, and was allowed to bring his family to the US. I’m thrilled every time I see a proud dad post of his children winning numerous awards.

Over the years, I have come to appreciate 10 qualities and factors that push many immigrants to success in the US. These include:

1. Having a strong “why” (sometimes people’s lives depend on you)

2. Stern and strict parents

3. Appreciative personality

4. Competitive spirit (hopefully friendly)

5. Ability not to easily succumb to peer pressure

6. Very tough skin (and I mean literally too, for those familiar with La chancla, belts, and switches)

7. Persistent and locked into 2 or 3 career paths

8. Strong family values

9. Frugal lifestyle

10. High expectations

There are many of you on PreMed STAR who are immigrants or children of immigrants. Many of you can identify with the immigrant mentality and others have friends they know who display these qualities. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

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