From Selling Funnel Cakes in Texas to Derivatives Star At Goldman Sachs: Julissa Arce

Julissa Arce

Goldman Sachs has been considered one of the most prestigious Wall Street firms almost since its inception in 1869. To be lucky enough to earn a position at Goldman Sachs is not easy to come by, but one that usually leads to a long and lucrative career in investment banking. That is why people from all over the world who wish to pursue a career on Wall Street hope and pray that they have what it takes to be offered a position. This is not the story of a Harvard graduate who obtains a position at Goldman Sachs through intelligence and family connections. Actually, this is the story of the complete opposite. Of a young, ambitious girl who sees an opportunity and takes it…Despite being an undocumented worker.

Julissa Arce grew up in a hill town in Mexico called Taxco de Alarcón with her family who earned a modest living by selling silver across the border in Texas. They were able to travel across the border easily with their tourist visas. But one day when Julissa was 11, her family decided to stay in Texas but several months later, when her tourist visa expired, Julissa knew that she and her family could never return to Mexico and that they would have to begin living a life of secrets and lies.

Despite not knowing the English language, she was enrolled in a Catholic school in San Antonio and it became clear to her teachers that she excelled at math. She joined almost every club that she could attend and began to employ an attitude of determination. This strong sense of achievement would hold her in good stead not only in school, but in her determination to get to New York and, as she put it, to “become rich”.

As her senior year in high school approached, she like most of her classmates, began the college application process. But for her there was always one key element missing on her applications: a social security number. Despite her good grades and her steadfast determination, she only received rejection letters. Just as she was graduating in 2001, a new law made it possible for undocumented Texas students to attend public universities at in-state rates. Five weeks later the director for admissions at the University of Texas at Austin wrote to say her application had been reviewed and she’d been accepted. She decided to major in Finance and put her math skills to the test. She became such a good student that the Hispanic Business Student Association, of which she was a member, named her its “future millionaire”.

Things were really falling in place for this determined and dedicated student. She realized that being in Finance was a way to use her math and reasoning skills with her desire to be wealthy and that no one would find this greedy or evil since the whole point of Finance is to have money make money. She felt she had found a path that could lead her to the American dream.

By this time, her parents had moved back to Mexico and Julissa took over their small, food cart business on the weekends. This provided her just enough money to get through the next week of school until she returned to the food cart the next weekend. All was going well until one week she lost her prized spot for the food truck and realized she was helpless to find any other type of employment without any documentation. Not willing to concede her dream, she confided in a school friend about her predicament. This friend knew someone who could help out. In very short order she met a women who provided Julissa with fake documents so she could find a job, stay in school and stay in the US. Julissa was surprised at how easy it was.

While working at a customer service job in Austin on the weekends, she heard about these lucrative internships in New York. That is when she put her mind to getting one of the internships. Little did she know that these are such sought after positions, and that the odds of getting into Harvard were better than landing one of the Goldman Sachs internships. Perhaps it was a good thing that she did not know this as she just kept pushing on.

In 2004, Julissa received the internship through a nonprofit called “Sponsors for Educational Opportunity”, which places Hispanic and black students into summer roles at banks. She loved it at Goldman Sachs and she worked hard and earned the respect of many of her fellow interns. She fought hard to get into one of the most prestigious firms and she was determined to stay there.

But one day in 2007, after she had been offered a full time position, she received a call from her family in Mexico that her father was dying. Her colleagues knew what was going on, but were puzzled that she did not leap at the chance to fly home and see her father one last time. What they did not know was that she could not go home. She was now a prisoner in the country she wanted to be a part of for so many years. She cried her tears in private and just got back to the business of things.

Her boyfriend at the time knew what was really going on and decide that they should get married. Which they did in a small, private ceremony. Several weeks later, she could replace her bogus green card with the real thing. And she had a US passport. She could travel for business and for pleasure – no longer the prisoner in her beloved country.

Eventually, she moved on from Goldman Sachs where she reportedly made about $350,000 per year. She probably would have stayed in investment banking but she became interested in the plight of other undocumented immigrants and how their struggles may not work out as well as they did for Julissa. She has devoted her time and effort to a grass roots organization that pushes for rights of undocumented immigrants. She will take a position with them as the development director of Define American. And this past August, she officially became a citizen of the United State of America.

Photo from elnuevoherald.com

Written by Sebastian Hensiek

From Philadelphia, Sebastian is a fan of music, writing, art, and entertainment.