Personal Narrative: Pursuing The Indian American Dream

We Native American’s live a horrid and terrifying life full of mistreatment, brutality and often complete genocide if we do not comply with the demands of the European’s. The foreigners not only changed our lives for the worse, but also brought along with them violence, disease and death. They changed my way of life, our way of governing, and if we don’t comply to their way we might as well have asked for a death sentence. People called us “Savages” and “Violent”, but what choice were we left with when they invade our homes ultimately destroying our way of life. Being put in the position of watching women and children slaughtered before my very eyes everyday is something I have to experience for the rest of my life. We Native Americans were pushed to the edge of extinction by the total genocide induced by the European People.

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

I am a Native American born and raised in Jamestown, Virginia. It was always just my father and I, my mother passed away when I was an infant, so my father raised me to be an independent woman. My father is the head commander of the tribe. He only allowed me to go to the village near our tents. I never went further than the village, till this one day that I was feeling so curious about what was out there, so I decided to walk beyond the village to see what there is to explore.

As a first generation Indian-American, I am no stranger to being a part of a distinct community while observing two unique cultures. Traveling to India exposed me to a dynamic population with rich diversity comprising of numerous languages and differing religions. Though these individuals may have had differing customs from their neighbors, there were similar ambitions to conquer grinding poverty. This poverty can be clearly noticed by seeing citizens sleeping on floors of a railway station, or the lack of air conditioning in searing hot weather. The frailty and mortality of the human condition was starkly visible in India. As a fellow human, I was humbled not only by the lack of privilege and opportunity of many citizens, but also by their

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

When I was in 5th grade at the age of 10 I was fortunate enough to go on a vacation out of the country. This was a pivotal moment in my life because my family had never really had enough money to go on a trip with all of us, but we did this time because my dad saved up; we were going to the Philippines. Even though it was just supposed to be a vacation, it ended up being something completely different. During our time there, we stayed with my uncle who lived in an underprivileged neighborhood.Spending time with my relatives in that place made me realize that I took things for granted. My thoughts recollected at the church, where I really saw a different view of my dad. He was teaching in a huge, crowded church and what he said and did seemed

On a bright sunny Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, started off as an ordinary day where Americans were out working to achieve their ambitious goal called the “ American Dream”. I decided to grab a coffee to start off my day. As I walked by a street vendor, he nicely asked: “ It’s a beautiful day huh?”. I smiled and answered, “ Yes it is sir”. “ What are you up to today? Are you in a rush?” he followed. I answered, “I’m just on my way to grab a coffee and get some fresh air”. He waved as we finished our conversation and I continued towards Starbucks.

Moving to the United States is a huge step for an immigrant. As an international student, I have been passing through this event that most Brazilian desire to. However, it is hard to adapt with the new culture and lifestyle, knowing that I have my own values. The “Two Ways to Belong in America” illustrates two views of getting used with this new culture, in which I identified myself with one of these ways: my nationality cannot be change with a simple paper called green card. Thus, starting a new life in a foreign country is tough because I have to find a way to readjust to this new culture, not ignoring

Imagine being put in a horrible situation that one has very little chance of escaping from. This happens to people all over the world and even occurs in Canada and the United States. Often this inability to escape horrible things is faced by many Native American populations. Sherman Alexie the author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian made this very clear through plot, characters and the themes. Certain points in the novel stuck out which clearly represented how hard it is for Native Americans to escape poverty. Native Americans often believe that they have no control over being in poverty so they do not try to get themselves out of it. When Native Americans try to overcome poverty, they are often unsupported by tribe

When I was at the very innocent age of three, my parents decided to immigrate to the United States from Bolivia. We moved to Pasadena, TX, in hopes of pursuing the American dream. Growing up, my neighborhood was not the best environment to raise a family, however, this environment shaped me into the person I am today. My parents initially made the decision to move because my father got a job offer that was too good to decline. We were promised a house in a nice neighborhood as well as jobs for both of my parents. When we arrived after a 13-hour flight, all of the promises along with our hopes were shattered. We were taken to lower-income apartments in the middle of a sketchy neighborhood. My father’s promised job was on the night shift as a

"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.

As an immigrant, life was very difficult financially. With just the clothes on their backs my parents left their home country, Haiti, and came to the US in pursuit of the American Dream. They wanted a better life for my sisters and I, however, we faced many challenges growing up. It was difficult adjusting to a new country, language, and culture. My parents did not speak English nor did they have a formal education, so it was difficult finding a stable job to sustain us. We became dependent on public assistance in order to survive. We lived in a low-income, underserved area and attended low performing schools. Our family income was well below the poverty level but this did not stop me from pursuing my dreams. I was determined to not let my

I am the American Dream. The President and I, alongside our family members are the chosen ones. I can not tell you how blessed we are by calling the greatest nation on Earth, our home. We can not be a better example for the rest of us living on any part of the God gifted planet of you and I. While Mrs. Clinton was making a few hundred thousand dollars a speech, I can recall Barack and I having a car that was so rusted, we could see the street and the sidewalk from the side of the door. But for as far as I can remember, he never was late on a date night. Although I was once or twice. Our students loan was even more than our mortgage. But living in the Beautiful House for almost a decade now did not change us as who we are, even dating back to

I was born in Havana, Cuba and lived there for ten years. If I am honest I cannot remember much about Cuba unlike my mother; however even though I cannot remember much I always used to think that Cuba was home regardless of how long we stayed in America. Similar to most children I took after the actions of my parents while growing up. If my mother and grandmother spoke about Cuba or any topic related to it I would listen to them and then I tried to have the same conversation with my uncle as if to let them know that I was thinking about Cuba as well. I used to believe that when we flew over to America we brought Cuba with us and that was a normal thing; however my thinking was changed over the course of only one year in America.