{"id":31686,"date":"2022-12-20T04:04:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T05:04:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=31686"},"modified":"2022-12-20T05:42:56","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T05:42:56","slug":"the-most-inspiring-immigration-stories-of-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/12\/20\/the-most-inspiring-immigration-stories-of-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Inspiring Immigration Stories Of 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The year 2022 saw many immigrants and their children make memorable contributions to America. Here are the most inspiring immigration stories of 2022.<\/p>\n

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International Student Turned Immigrant Entrepreneur Achieves American Dream In Record Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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In 2022, Josh Wardle, a former international student and software engineer from the United Kingdom, achieved the American Dream in record time. In October 2021, he designed the online game Wordle, which became a phenomenon played by millions. Only three months later, in January 2022, the New York Times<\/em><\/a> purchased Wordle for \u201can undisclosed seven-figure sum<\/a>.\u201d Wordle is played by using six turns to guess a five-letter word. Wardle came to America as an international student and earned an MFA in digital arts at the University of Oregon before becoming an engineer at Reddit and Pinterest.<\/p>\n

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From McDonald\u2019s To Outer Space<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In <\/strong>Streets of Gold: America\u2019s Untold Story of Immigrant Success<\/em><\/a>, <\/strong>economics professors Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan found that today\u2019s immigrants assimilate as well as past immigrants, and their children are better off economically<\/a> than the children of native-born. Katya Echazarreta is a good example.<\/p>\n

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At the age of seven, Katya Echazarreta immigrated to America with her parents from Mexico. \u201cShe recalls <\/strong>being overwhelmed in a new place where she didn’t speak the language, and a teacher warned her she might have to be held back,\u201d according to CNN<\/a>. Katya worked four jobs in college and contributed to her family\u2019s income in high school, including by working at McDonald\u2019s. She earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA, worked for two years as an electrical engineer at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and expects to complete her master\u2019s degree at Johns Hopkins University in 2023. On June 4, 2022, she was selected to join a Blue Origin spaceflight. Her goal is to make travel in space accessible to people like her, those who start life with little means but have big American dreams.<\/p>\n

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Kids Show Appreciation For A New American<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a stirring ovation captured on video<\/a>, night custodian Leo Magalang came to work after becoming a new American citizen and \u201cstaff and students at his elementary school in Plainfield, Illinois, lined the halls to congratulate him, wave American flags and chant \u2018Leo\u2019 and \u2018USA,\u2019\u201d reported the New York Post<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Son Of Immigrant Impresses At U.S. Open Tennis <\/strong>Tournament<\/h2>\n

After Frances Tiafoe reached the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in September 2022, his family\u2019s inspiring background came to light. \u201cTiafoe\u2019s uplifting story began when his parents\u2014who had not yet met\u2014left Sierra Leone for the United States in the 1990s to escape a civil war,\u201d writes David Waldstein in the New York Times<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThey each moved to the United States and, after they met, settled down in Maryland and had twin boys, Franklin and Frances.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Frances Tiafoe celebrates after defeating Andrey Rublev during their Men\u2019s Singles Quarterfinal … [+]<\/span> match of the 2022 US Open. (Photo by Sarah Stier\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe boys\u2019 father, Constant Tiafoe, found work on the construction site for the Junior Tennis Champions Center in College Park, Md. Constant Tiafoe was so industrious, he was offered the job of the maintenance director of the facility,\u201d according to Waldstein. \u201cHe was given an office, where sometimes the twins slept, the better to, as they grew big enough to hold rackets, spend time on the courts. . . Frances displayed a unique passion, watching the lessons given to the older boys at the center and mimicking their every move, then hitting balls off walls and serving to ghosts on outer courts until dark.\u201d Frances Tiafoe\u2019s talent and hard work paid off. He is ranked 19th<\/sup> in the world<\/a> with over $7 million in career earnings.<\/p>\n

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Megan Khang hits a shot on the 1st green during the final round of the Cognizant Founders Cup at … [+]<\/span> Upper Montclair Country Club on May 15, 2022 in Clifton, New Jersey. (Photo by Sarah Stier\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Golfer Credits The Sacrifices Of Her Hmong Refugee Parents<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2022, Megan Khang achieved four top-ten finishes on the <\/strong>Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. The success came years after her parents came to America as refugees. \u201cHer parents were children when they fled Laos with their families after the Vietnam War,\u201d according to Gene Wang in the Washington Post<\/em><\/a>. \u201cThey don\u2019t remember a great deal from that time, Megan indicated, with spotty recollections of having to wait in Thailand before being granted asylum in the United States. When Lee Khang was 7, his older brothers arranged to have a boat meant for six passengers carry a dozen or so family members across the Mekong River into Thailand. They went through checkpoints bribing guards to allow passage and eventually settled in Brookline, Mass., thanks to American sponsorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wang describes how when Khang was a little girl, she \u201cwould hit golf balls from her parents\u2019 garage in Massachusetts, where her father, then a mechanic, fixed cars. Occasionally the dimpled orbs\u2014her favorite was emblazoned with a Pok\u00e9mon logo\u2014sailed through the practice netting and into his office. Lee Khang never minded the distraction because he was fully invested in his daughter\u2019s budding skills, eventually retiring from his full-time trade and parting ways with a garage he managed in Rhode Island to support Megan\u2019s dream of playing professionally. That sacrifice was among many Megan\u2019s family made for their daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiring Immigrant Entrepreneurs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2022, this Forbes<\/em> column told the stories of three entrepreneurs to remember. With poor lab equipment and a crumbling Russian economy, Gleb Yushin<\/a> decided the only way he could become a scientist was to immigrate. He chose America. He became an international student and earned a Ph.D. in materials science at North Carolina State. The early years were tough, with little money and a new child, but, he said, \u201cWhat helped a lot were remarkably friendly and supportive people on campus and in the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, he has over 200 patents connected to expanding the energy capacity of lithium-ion batteries for electrical vehicles and other uses. He cofounded Sila Nanotechnologies, valued at over $3 billion and employing 350 people. Yushin believes he never could have developed his technology in Russia. America helps immigrants reach their potential, which also helps Americans. \u201cI don\u2019t think there is another country on the planet where I could cofound and build a company like Sila,\u201d said Yushin.<\/p>\n

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The three founders of Sila Nanotechnologies in 2022: CEO Gene Berdichevsky (l), CTO Gleb Yushin (c) … [+]<\/span> and VP Engineering Alex Jacobs (r).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ben Liu\u2019s parents immigrated from Taiwan<\/a> when he was two. \u201cWhen my parents decided where they wanted to raise kids, a big part was looking at a country where they felt their children would have the biggest opportunities,\u201d he said. Liu is CEO of TrialSpark. The company has 110 employees and is valued at over $1 billion. TrialSpark uses technology to automate and streamline clinical trials as a way to bring many more drugs to market\u2014and faster. \u201cI think the United States is the best place in the world to build something ambitious,\u201d said Liu. \u201cI am so grateful to my parents for their decision to come to the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n

In July 1967, Iraj Dabirsiaghi<\/a>, a former captain of the Iranian national soccer team, played a match against the club sponsored by the Shah of Iran, the country\u2019s dictator. His team defeated the Shah\u2019s club and allies of the Shah retaliated by dissolving Iraj\u2019s team. For Iraj, it was the final straw. He decided to leave Iran to further his education and for a chance at greater freedom in America.<\/p>\n

In the United States, Iraj earned a B.S., taught math in Baltimore for 30 years and had three kids. Arshan Dabirsiaghi was one of those three children. In 2014, Arshan cofounded Contrast Security, a company valued at over $1 billion with approximately 400 employees. Sometimes a soccer game is just a soccer game. Sometimes it leads to a nice life, a good family and a billion-dollar company.<\/p>\n

From Child Immigrant To Hedge-Fund Innovator <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Not all hedge funds are alike. One fund the Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a> featured in 2022 was Legalist Inc., \u201ca technology-powered investment firm\u201d started by immigrant Eva Shang and her partner Christian Haigh. The fund\u2019s strategy focuses on litigation finance (i.e., backing lawsuits for \u201ca percentage of court-awarded judgments\u201d).<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Shang emigrated to the U.S. from China at age 3 and grew up mostly in a Philadelphia suburb where her mother supported the family working as an actuary,\u201d reported Matt Wirtz for the Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>. \u201cMs. Shang began proofreading her mother\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9s at age 7, she said, and helped care for her younger sister, Melissa Shang, who has a form of muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n

An Afghan Refugee Reflects On Life In America<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Behind the image of Afghans clinging to departing American plane after the fall of Kabul, CBS News reporter <\/strong>Musadiq Bidar told the story<\/a> of his family\u2019s flight from Afghanistan 25 years earlier and their life as refugees in America. His father, a radio journalist, had been reporting on the Taliban\u2019s human rights abuses and \u201cbecame a target\u201d when the Taliban takeover began in the 1990s. The family\u2019s choice: \u201cStay home and face potential death or leave everything behind in search of freedom and opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musadiq\u2019s family left Kabul in the middle of the night, \u201chiding in the homes of family and friends for months\u201d before making it to a refugee camp in Pakistan. As a six-year-old, Musadiq needed to work up to ten hours daily in Pakistan to help put food on the family table. In 2003, after waiting years, his family received permission to come to America as a refugee. \u201cTo me,\u201d Musadiq said, \u201ceducation was the catalyst to success and America gave me the opportunity to seize it.\u201d He says his family\u2019s success is due to the mentors, friends, neighbors and volunteers who supported him and his refugee family at every step.<\/p>\n