Middle Class Life : College And The Middle-Class

What is the American Dream? The American Dream is the concept of being able to live freely and make money the way they want to instead of the way their “ruler” wants them to. People are given the right to achieve prosperity through their own hard work and determination.

The American dream is starting small and having freedom in order to grow into your best fully developed self working in your dream job living with the people you love. The American dream is not accessible to everyone in America since there are many possibilities you could end up in a job that pays you lower that your dream job and that may keep you away from your loved one.

First, let's define "American Dream". "American Dream" is what you would consider a "perfect life." It can be full of happiness, money, love, food, cars, whatever you desire, everyone has a different opinion. One person’s American Dream may be totally different from someone else’s, that is what makes us all individuals. My American Dream would include a good job and lots of money, spare time for my family and I, and most importantly, healthiness.

America provides opportunity to achieve the American Dream yet so many argue that it is impossible today. The American Dream consists of having opportunity to be someone financially stable and having success in your life. It is a long road to the American Dream with many obstacles on the way. Everyone is given an opportunity to start, with education being free. It is up to the person to decide whether they will continue their education to open more opportunities for their future. The American Dream is a reality that can be achieved today through hard work, self-perseverance and motivation to succeed.

What is the American dream? The American Dream to me would be a family, loyal husband, good paying job and most of all my health. But my perspective of the American Dream and other people/authors perspective could be viewed very differently. Frederick Douglass and F. Scott Fitzgerald both have very different views of their American Dream.

The American Dream can be generally defined as living a prosperous and fulfilled life. As Americans when we consider the American Dream we think of being

Many people today arrive in the United States of America in pursuit of achieving the American Dream. What is the American Dream, and what does it mean in today 's culture? The term “American Dream” was established since the Great Depression representing Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; the very values this great nation was founded upon. The Dream was said to be successful if a person worked hard to achieve his/her goals. Even though prior the American Dream has been terminated however, citizens have transform it in terms of personal goals since the 1930s. Author Brandon King describes the American Dream as an, “Opportunity for each according to ability and achievement”(610). The American dream has to do with the concept of achieving success; being able to perform daily tasks to provide a brighter future for a person, and his/her family. Essentially, if you are passionate enough about what you do, success is always possible even with manageable obstacles. Although, hard work is one of the factors in achieving the American Dream, self-motivation has also made an impact. The reality is every citizen has the opportunity of achievement depending on his/her choices, and access to education.

The American Dream is pivotal to America's upbringing and culture. It has existed before America has. Its is the belief that a person could achieve success in America through hard work. The American Dream is somethings everyone wished to accomplish, and for good reason. However, the dream is increasingly getting harder to achieve than ever before. Be it for prejudice, persecution, social constructs, or even sexism. For some people, the American Dream is still a reality, but for others it will always be a dream.

The American Dream is one of those terms that people refer to when talking about immigration, financial status, and so much more. But what does the term really refer to? People used to think of the American Dream as financial prosperity, religious and financial freedom, and all around success. Now, the term may mean something similar, but people are much less focused on it. If anything, the American Dream today is focused on gaining material goods and proving your bank account is larger than your neighbors. With today’s economy, laws and regulations, immigration customs, and overall attitude towards work, people are seldom focused on achieving the American Dream.

People have always asked what really is the American Dream, and there is no right answer. The Dream changes along with our society and economy. The older version of the Dream varies greatly from that of now. It is no longer about maleristic things and trying to one up your neighbor. Many today see the Dream as a much simpler task than they used to. No longer must one sweat and break their back climbing up the ladder of success. The Dream is much easier to achieve and keep a hold of. Today, a simple middle class family is what is considered as the American Dream. After the Great Recession, which had a large impact on the American Dream, families started to save back all of their money instead of wasting it

Throughout the United States, student loans have been show to drag this economy down. Student loans have been a big problem through many of the years. It has been showing a trend and it is raising and exceeding many of the debt types each year. Many problems that students that have loans cause are, “ 20 percent of respondents indicated they cannot get a loan for other items, are unable to purchase a home, and student loan debt negatively impacts their credit. 18 percent of individuals indicated they are living paycheck to paycheck, “drowning” in debt, and have a large debt load. 13 percent indicated they have a lower quality of life and are unable to afford the extra things. 12 percent indicated they are unable to save for their retirement or their children’s education and feel less secure.” Students that have

In general, the idea of the American Dream is to achieve prosperity and everlasting success through hard work and dedication. Although this is the norm, many people have their own unique idea of what the American Dream is based on how they were raised and what they believe success is. For one person success could be to live in a mansion, while for others it may be to live in a cardboard box. An example of the general idea is in the novel Spare Parts by Joshua Davis, where four teens are out to chase after the American Dream. While the example in the novel is very general, I have my own vision of what the American Dream is.

Throughout the year’s higher education has become more popular and the number of students grows each year. Unfortunately, the amount of money it costs to finance your education grows as well, and along with that comes student debt. Student debt has reached an all-time high in the United States of America, and according to CNN, the amount of debt has reached 1.2 trillion dollars. The Institute College Access has said that at least 70 percent of all students are in some type of debt directly corresponding to their college education. Not only is the demand for educational degrees growing in the work fields, but the amount of debt a single person has coming out of college. There is not one state where the average amount of debt is under $22,000.00 and the national current average of debt is $28,950.00 says the Institute for College Access. In a recent study from the Institute for College Access the amount of debt in a 10-year time period, 2004-2014 rose from 65% to 69%, while average debt at graduation rose at more than twice the rate of inflammation.

Now these loans that students take out will backfire in the future. The article “Class of 2013 grads average $35,200 in total debt” states that majority of the college graduates will pay off what they owe with their income of their job. 25% say that their parents or family member is going to help them. 24% will use saving, 21% say they plan on getting a second job. 7% say they don’t ever plan on ever being able to pay off their loans.

What is the “American Dream”? The American Dream has always been characterized by a thriving job market, opportunities for advancement, stability, etc. It is “the pursuit of individual achievement without consideration for moral or legal restrictions” (Angulski, 2013). This idea dates back as far as 1630 to the puritan colonists. It was first established within a sermon given by John Winthrop while sailing to Massachusetts. This sermon set into motion the ideals that we have adapted today enveloping the “American Dream”. From then on Americans put their faith in the theory that if you work hard and do the right thing you will manifest your goals and eventually attain success and comfortability. The dream of the time was to live in a land where there existed a right to religious freedom and opportunity. This ideal has stuck to this day, however the validity may is no longer intact. The American Dream is a mere afterthought within today’s society, overtaken by massive debt and loss of opportunity. The American Dream is the greatest asset we as a country possess, “the fact that people from across the world still want to come to America to fulfill their dreams, to join a society that they see as dynamic, exciting, and full of potential, is a testament to the great potential of America to improve lives and offer opportunity for all” (Ross, 2016).