Personal Narrative: Growing Up In A Small Town With Big Dreams

California has always held a special place in my heart for many different reasons. I was born and raised in this state and although there has been many drawbacks to being Californian, it has always been a place of comfort for me. California has played a huge role when it comes to the person I am today and why I have such an open mind, love for different cultures, and my willingness to work hard for the so called “California Dream.”

What is the American Dream? Is it different today than it was for our forefathers? Is the Dream based on collecting as many possessions as we can, or how we want to live? Is it setting goals that we want to achieve in our lifetime and simply being content in whatever we do? My answer is yes. It is making an effort to meet or exceed our goals, whether we want to “shoot for the moon” and strive for wealth, or be content with the basic needs. Most of us want the simplest necessities - shelter, companionship, and a few luxuries to make us comfortable. The American Dream, enduring through time and eras, encourages us to put in place the framework of motivation for the status and achievements we want to attain for ourselves throughout our lives

The American dream is something that everyone should believe in, I know I do. Throughout my whole entire life I have wanted to be successful. I believe in myself and know that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to. The American dream says that everyone should be treated equal. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Everyone is judged for their height, weight, race, age, likes, dislikes, etc. In the world today you must conform to the social norm to be considered “cool.” Part of me wants to feel that way and the other part of me just wants to be original and do whatever I want. When I was a little girl I used to perform in musical theater. I loved it so much it made me the happiest I have probably ever been in my entire life. Did everybody

Honestly as of right now I still do not know exactly what I want to do. However I do know that I would like to be involved in computer science. Texas A&M has a great opportunity for me to achieve my dreams. They offer computer science degrees such as minor in computer science, bachelor of science in computer science, master of science in computer science, master of computer science and even a doctor of philosophy.

The way the story begins is probably the same as others. Obviously you are born and raised somewhere. Well my story began in Worcester Massachusetts. I was born on January 15th, 1995, to wonderful parents who people might think is not your usual mix. My mother is from the Dominican Republic and my father is from Ecuador. Yes, I know, the weirdest mix ever but it brought me into this world, so I'm proud.

Growing up in America, I have always been surrounded by many cultures and different ethnic groups. Many of those cultures differ from my own traditionally. For the first half of my life, I was raised in detroit, a predominantly black city - I had always assumed. My family eventually moved out of Detroit and we moved to Inkster. Inkster was a much smaller city, but it was also a predominantly black city. In 2011, my family moved from Inkster, Michigan to Canton, Michigan. Although the two cities are less than a half hour apart - the cultural and ethnic groups are extremely diverse. While attending my freshman year of high school in Canton I realized, I was a minority there. More than half of the student body, more than half of the community

Growing up in America, the majority of people are never worried about where their next meal is coming from or how it was prepared. I have personally been spoiled throughout my life always having an abundant supply of food along with a mother that cooked every meal for me. I dreaded waking up at 5am every morning to head off to the chicken house and pick up, at times, hundreds of dead chickens. Taking Food Science 1000 this semester, I now have a wealth of knowledge about food and food science. I now have a greater appreciation for farmers worldwide as their hard work provides billions of families with food. It has shown me that even small family operations, like my family's, still make a huge impact on the world. Before this class I never really

"More than anything, I just want you to know that there is more than one person you can lean on. You may have someone up their who you are relying on, but you have two incrediably strong sons who would never wish to see their mother in pain like this. Whatever the outcome we finally get your boys will be strong for you and in return I'm sure you will be strong for them."[/b]

"I have run up credit card bills that I didn't know how I would pay off. I recognize when I am engaged in a spending spree, but I often have felt powerless to stop myself. The compulsion to finish the list and to avoid adding other things to the list - by buying them right then - has often been much stronger than the recognition that I didn't have the money to pay for what I was buying" (Spenders Anonymous, n.d.). This excerpt is from the story of a man named Kirk, who is a compulsive buyer. Kirk is not alone; many Americans are controlled by a cycle of working and spending what meager amount they have left to buy luxury items. Sometimes these citizens do not even have the money to pay for what they are buying. Truly, these people are miserable, but the idea that consumerism equals happiness and that they are living free lives is driven into American people since childhood. Consumerism and freedom are key parts of the American dream. The American dream emphasizes hard work and sacrifice, but in return, it promises the possibility of success to everyone, regardless of his or her socioeconomic circumstances. Despite the good intentions behind the ancestral ideal, the American dream has turned into a nightmare.

“American Dream.” Those two words are what drove my parents to escape the challenges of living in poverty stricken Colombia. Being a first generation, young, female, Latina immigrant my upbringing has made me fortunate enough to embrace all of the opportunities available for me.

My mother was born in Tijuana, Mexico and my father was born in Zacatecas, Mexico. My parents worked very hard to come to the United States, looking for the American dream. They are dedicated to their family and want the best for their children. My parents have not stopped working, always trying to arrange their work schedule with my two siblings and I school schedules. They taught us that the only way to go forward is to work, to put all our best efforts in everything we want to accomplish in life. My father always tells me “exhale ganas,” meaning always do your best, to do what you are doing with feeling. Since the day they dropped me off at the college dorms I knew

I am a young 19 year old hispanic female trying to live the american dream. I was born in Michoacan, Mexico. I came to the United States when i was about one year old, so I was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah with my older sister and my brother. After along came my little sister. My parents are both hispanic, they both never made it to high school, they dropped out in elementry. My parents both came to the United States to live the american dream which I believe was pretty hard for them at first because as I was growing up I had a disability. I fell when I was coming to america,which left me unable to walk. I was bullied throughout elementary and jr high but had a bad past in high school because of my disability.

My “American Dream” wasn’t exactly my American Dream so I’m gonna make up some stuff. The way I will achieve my American Dream is to kinda try in school, just enough to pass it at least, and I will help out my community by doing things around in my area which is almost nothing because I live in the middle of nowhere. In school I will need to finish my English work and complete all of my aows. In Algebra I will have to try really hard because math is super important in life but math is extremely hard and and is dumb but you have to have it.

An individual’s life is full of personal and professional controversies, I believe there is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the question of fulfillment of one’s desires. However, answering it accurately is critical in making intelligent career choices and finding your success in life. Today, many people, including myself, immigrate to the United States of America in search of the American Dream; freedom, equality, and the opportunity to achieve their personal goals in life. However, the American dream has changed drastically, and is no longer associated only with happiness but rather refers to the dollar sign directly. Many argue that the more money you make, the happier you will be, however, on the other hand some people still stick with the famous expression “more money more problems”. From a reality perspective the statement itself is flawed and those following this chant are sure in for a big surprise. They say you should learn to be realistic

Some people view the outside world as a dangerous place full of disparity and misery, others like to embrace that unknown and try to use it as a catalyst for inner growth. I like to see myself as the latter, the individual who lives for the rush of the unknown. I looked down to see what I could only describe as a dream come true. It was a ticket for a six month tour around Asia that would lead to the complete immersion of native culture and tradition- Vietnamese Pho, the mountain folk of Nepal, the Muay Thai martial arts of Thailand, Chinese Architecture and the beaches of Laos are some of the places that we got to experience first-hand. As a participant I was expected to live with 15 other individuals from around the world that I had never