My American Dream

There is an ancient African adage that states “If you wish to move mountains tomorrow, you must start by lifting stones today”. As a first generation immigrant to the United States and reminiscent of countless other immigrants who have come before me, moving to a new country literally means starting your life all over again from scratch, but symbolically it signifies a rebirth of oneself and a chance to metamorphose into whatever new creature you aspire to be. Some of the challenges I faced included culture shock, language barriers, financial barriers, but the utmost significant one was the education barrier. I quickly realized that if I could bridge the education gap I would be able to overcome all the other barriers. For myself, having an education epitomized my assimilation into my new life by enabling me to chase my dreams and realize my unique American dream.

The topic of The American Dream has been brought up on many occasions. The arising issue that still ascends is whether or not The American Dream is alive or dead in the United States. The American Dream has come to the generalization of the personal perspective of any individual. The history of The American Dream has always gone back to the common man thinking of their future generations to come and how he will implant a positive outcome throughout it. Many now believe that the ideal plan of The American Dream cannot even be met anymore. Values and beliefs are now being questioned towards the aspect of upward mobility, the cost of education, jobs, and even affordable housing. Referring to an executive editor and vice president of Time Reporting, he states, “combined with a formidable American work ethic, made the pursuit of happiness more than a full-time proposition” (Meacham, Keeping The Dream Alive). This statement is targeted towards the actual definition of what The American Dream actually meant in various societies in the past. Happiness and a full-time of gratitude were critical aspects towards being met because it was the initial reason for this ideal. Some of the key causes and components that affect the way The American Dream is supposed upon today is the basic principles of economics, education, and a downward spiral. These reasons lead to The American Dream being considered in a diverse way with much complexity. The American Dream was different from the past and

The ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. That is the definition of the “American Dream”, but the way it is interpreted changes from generation to generation. As stated in the prompt a big portion of the “American Dream” is one day being successful enough to purchase your own house, or at least that is how the Baby Boomers interpreted it. Millennials are now taking over and a lot of them do not have the same view.

From the early stages of American literature the dream of success has always been around, even at the very beginning. It has gone on the journey of merely surviving in small amounts of the literature from the native people to thriving in a growing society and being in everything. The dream to myself is becoming wealthy and being successful in everything I do. Today I believe that the dream has become different for everyone, every person has a different dream, a different way they want their life to go.

The American dream has been a beacon of hope and motivation for the millions of people who have immigrated and grown up in the United States; especially for those of the lower class. Through hard work and determination one could completely change their life for the better while provide better circumstances for future generations. The American dream is defined as, “a happy way of living that is thought of by many Americans as something that can be achieved by anyone in the U.S. especially by working hard and becoming successful” (The American Dream). Today, youth of the lower class are finding this dream to be nearly impossible to achieve, even by working hard. For many it has become nothing more than a pipe dream. The American dream is still alive, but it is on it’s final breath; especially for the poor youth of America.

When my family and I decided to move to the United States, it was with the hope to obtain a better life and a better education for my brother and me. But when we arrived, our expectations turned out to be different than what we found here. Above all, to achieve a good education is not that simple because I have to face many barriers that make my education difficult, including adapting myself to the American culture, having parents that can 't help me with school work because they do not know English, and the most difficult part, dealing with a the poor background. From my experience, I can tell that immigrant students have to beat many obstacles in order to

It is a well-known fact that the term “American Dream” first mentioned by James Trusslow Adams in 1931 (Wright 197) explains the model of an individual’s ideal existence, which is applied exclusively to the US – the country full of freedoms, possibilities, and opportunities. Nowadays the fame about the American dream reached all continents, and more and more people take the concept for granted dreaming about moving to America and spending the rest of their lives in a more favourable environment compared to their own. As many US citizens, they usually ignore the fact that hard work has always served as a background in the given concept (Warschauer) and look forward to gain all amenities of existence at once.

Throughout life everybody has heard the line “Follow your dreams!” This simple sentence has inspired many. This idea of creating a dream and chasing it has inspired the American Dream. The American Dream is different for everybody. It could be getting married, creating a business, or being a hero. It turns out the American Dream is not for everybody. There is always something standing in the way of the American Dream. Race, social status, and the individual are standing in the way between the person and the American Dream.

Do you ever wonder at what specific age or phase in an immigrants' life do they start to develop their American Dream compared to a natural born American? Do both dreamers have the same exact dream for themselves? Dreamers often must go through devastating and life-threatening situations to get through the small and big obstacles to achieve The Dream. Eventually, over some period, immigrants and U.S citizens are able to overcome these obstacles and achieve their American Dream. With so many immigrants emigrating to the United States it is safe to say that not everyone holds the same exact American Dream. When an immigrant starts to develop the American Dream, it is often way different than what a natural born citizen's dream may be,

Many people are trying to achieve the American dream and want to live a decent life which is why they try to complete their education first by getting their degree which will lead them to a job. Since the competition for higher education has been on the rise the stakes are higher which make people take questionable actions.

There isn’t much to tell about myself; I am just a simple girl from Africa trying to live the “American dream.” I work very hard for what I have, and I do not surrender easily. In addition, I am a very caring person, which can be one of my best qualities but also one of my worst. For instance, when I make promises to people or give them my word, I will follow through to what I promised. I will go above and beyond to make sure I do what I said and committed myself to do.

I have never been so excited about my biggest dream that was about to turn into reality. Settling permanently in the United States was to become my life changing experience. Such an experience is worth living. It has been a great opportunity to start living my best. Coming to America where anything seems possible is a dream come true for certain reasons such as fulfilling a childish dream to study in America, revealing a chance to see the world, and building a road to success.

Growing up in a family full of healthcare providers, I told myself growing up that I would stir away from such profession. As a child, I have always wanted to be a teacher “when I grew up”. At a young age, my family and I migrated from the islands of the Philippines to the United States of America. When we got here, my big family lived in a small apartment with my grandparents. Life has changed from living a very comfortable lifestyle to my parents having to work hours on end to chase the American dream. For all of my life, I have never felt so separated from my parents. However, I understood that they were working hard for the family. Luckily, I had very caring and loving grandparents who took on the role of our guardians and caregivers.

September 15, 2015 marked the beginning of a new experience; the beginning of my new story. It was the day I said goodbye to my country, the place that watched me grow and was full of the people that I loved. This was the day I moved to the United States and left my family and friends in search of better opportunities for my life. With a suitcase full of dreams and goals, my family and I arrived to the United States, the land of opportunity. Moving from the country I was born and raised in helped me see the world in a different way and learn about the many cultures and perspectives that exist around the world. It has been one year since my family and I made the move, and I am proud of everything I have done. Every day I learn about this new

The beginning of her American Dream was sown with division. As she slid through the aircraft’s narrow passage between first and economy, she breathed the stale air that was somehow imperceptibly more American than 14 hours prior. Traipsing to the front of the plane, she saw before her a ramp nearly identical to the one she left behind. But this metal tube coated in synthetic carpet and adorned by monuments to consumerism served as the vessel of her Dream, and it seemed to her a golden stairway leading to the promise of prosperity. As she climbed, her fellow passengers’ recycled breath gave way to the scent of flipped burgers and freshly pressed t-shirts. As she stumbled into the effervescent corridor, she noticed the retractable divider separating priority and regular boarding.