A Mexican-American woman whose parents supported her by peddling snow cones rose through the ranks of Goldman Sachs to land a $340,000-a-year banking job — and then did the unthinkable. She quit.
But Julissa Arce says she is still living the American dream, touring the US as a public speaker, writing a book about her rags-to-riches rise and starting a foundation for the children of immigrants in New York City, where she once lived.
“I realized that I had a powerful story to tell about immigrants,” said Arce, 33, whose book, “My (Underground) American Dream,’’ comes out Tuesday.
When she was 3 years old, Arce’s parents fled Mexico to build a better life. At age 11, Arce joined her parents in San Antonio, Texas.
Her mom and dad first sold Mexican silver at US trade shows to support the family, then peddled funnel cakes and snow cones at festivals.
Education was the most important thing in her household, Arce said, and her parents insisted on sending her to private school.
“I saw how they were struggling to pay, and I begged them to send me to a public high school,” she said.
But without a Social Security number, she couldn’t go to college.
“I was qualified to apply for the scholarships because of my grades — I was in the top 5 percent of my high school class — but I couldn’t even apply without a Social Security number,” she said.
Then fate intervened. Texas was the first state to pass a law allowing illegal immigrants to go to college.
“I got in touch with the senator who sponsored the bill, and he asked the University of Texas to reconsider their rejection of my application. Two weeks before school started, I received my acceptance letter,’’ she said.
She worked for free in Chicago as an intern for a soccer team. She lived with relatives to save on rent, and dressed up as the team’s mascot at special events to earn money.
She then applied to intern at Goldman Sachs, and six years later, was earning $340,000 a year.
Arce — who received her green card in 2009 and citizenship in 2014 — now runs her own foundation that gives scholarships to immigrants in New York.