Personal Narrative: The Only Way To Complete The American Dream

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

The phrase “The American Dream” is relatively old and has a long history, and although its ideas has changed tremendously throughout the centuries, it still holds great meaning behind it. It not only symbolizes financial success, but having the freedom to live independently. For some, living the American Dream means having justice, material possession, or just pursuing everlasting happiness. The new American Dream requires you to earn opportunity, and is has been more difficult for others based on their social standing, ethnicity, and race to obtain; as opposed to the past American Dream which involved optimism and hope for a better life. Each source clearly demonstrates the need for determination and willpower to overcome barriers and obstacles of life.

"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.

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

Major changes in many kids live breeds from their family’s transition from one place to another. Most times they move a couple blocks or to another city or another state. The transition is arduous, but as hard as it is, most American kids don’t cross the Atlantic ocean to reside on a whole new continent. That is my story.

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

Education was seen as a way out of the lifestyle my mother imported herself and family into. We pursued the American Dream. She worked extra hard to send me to private religious schools. Though she initially resisted, she enrolled me in a Seventh Day Adventist elementary school because she felt that they would be more rigorous in their teaching of the Bible. She also knew one of the teachers who came over with her from Haiti years prior. She could accept their own version of Christianity as long as she made sure I balanced their beliefs and teaching with our own. I was never to miss any of the walks with my grandmother to St. Matthew’s. I was also required to sit in for extra mass (in French, English, and occasionally Spanish). I spent many years at that school until tuition rates and lowered school ratings had her move me to

It was April 3, 2015. While the wind danced around picking few leaves here and there along with itself, my spirit on the other hand, marked with unease and nervousness stood in stark contrast. It was time to board the airplane for United States of America; it was time to leave India, my birthplace as well as my home for 14 years. With hopes of achieving the American Dream, my family and I would board the airplane, oblivious to the opportunities as well as hardships and sacrifices which would follow. Although the journey might seem as a physical one - of around 15 hours, it was a moral journey of understanding new cultures, new ideas, new struggles.Nevertheless, it was a journey to understand the true beauty of the world.

There was a point in my life when i thought i knew what i wanted, or who i wanted to be. Then reality set in. The truth is, i was falling into that old saying "the American dream". Little did i know all i was doing was conforming to the ways of the world. I started a business, had my own family but i was living a double life. I was a husband, a father and an avid drug user. Which in the long run, led me down a path of self destruction. I lied to everyone around me, and the consequences of my actions cost me my freedom. In April 2009 i was baptized in front of the entire congregation on a Sunday morning, And knew who Jesus Christ was, and what he did for me. So there was no excuse why Three years later i was sitting in an 8x10 cell, On my way

Now, Thomas can be seen in his brown lounge chair, IV hooked to his arm, respiring slowly. The cancer slowly taking away another part of him each and every day, hoping that the chemo kills the cancer before the cancer kills him. He calls for his wife to help adjust his chair. Even after sixty-five years, she is still by his side ever since he asked her to prom his Senior year of high school. The grandson asks him if he believes he has achieved his American Dream. Thomas looks around his room. The IV slowly drips into his bloodstream and Thomas takes a deep breath, “I gave up my chance at the American Dream in order to make sure the less fortunate have a chance to be better, to have true ‘upward mobility’. My only American Dream, if I had one,

Los angles is one of the cities where people try to achieve the “American dream”. Even though the “American Dream” is different from people to people. To me, Los Angeles means a new beginning…my new beginning. I have moved to Los angles in search of success in education and life, to prove to myself that I can be independent.

Jim Jordan once said, “If you’re not going to work, you’re never going to be able to experience the American Dream.” America is one of the most prosperous counties for one to achieve anything he or she wants. Because America is such a land of great opportunity, the concept of the “American Dream” has been developed. While the “American Dream” could be many things, there are three basic traits associated with it.

The American Dream is a highly believed in idea. Some people receive luck and achieve the dream quite quickly and easily. On the other hand, others never actually attain the dream. Sometimes people construct decisions based on their emotions instead of what would benefit them the greatest. The life situation you are born into does not matter but it requires an abundance of work to cause it to happen. The American Dream will not be achieved by the people who don’t strive and put the effort and time to earn the dream. The amount of effort needed to obtain the dream varies from person to person, but no one person will ever say it was easy. People need to be able to adapt to their surroundings to make achieving the American Dream a possibility.

What is the American Dream? For many the Dream is the hope for religious freedom, racial equality, or prosperity, but I believe the Dream is all of the above. The American Dream is anything that someone wants it to be. For the Founding Fathers, the Dream was a new nation with religious freedom and equality for all people. For immigrants during the 19th and early 20th century, the dream was a new future in a nation where anything was possible. For the American citizens during the Great Depression, it is the the hope for America to get back on it’s feet and become what is was only a few years earlier. Finally, my dream is that with hard work I can accomplish my wildest dreams. Even before America was founded, people dreamed that their wanting

I get to school, still taken aback from the events earlier, and I become more and more apprehensive as the day goes on. The fact that I didn’t get a text from my mom during school, telling me anything about an update on Annie’s situation, worried me, because that meant Annie was either still at the vet or something was really wrong. My brother drove us home from school, oblivious to the fact that Annie had a seizure that morning. The moment I walk in the door to the house and set my stuff down, I see my dad standing in the doorway of the kitchen, with his arms out. I walk towards him, and my mom is there too, and