Randy Haugen

Throughout my childhood I could never say I had the most exciting life, even now I can still say that about my daily routine. Although my family put effort into nurturing me into a well-rounded member of society since youth, I never felt any change or progress personally; it was more as if I simply adapted to whatever expectations my elders had of me. I know this feeling did not apply to me only, in fact, I was once in a classroom full of fifty-two people who accommodated to whatever came their way.

As I grew older, it was impossible to notice that my world was imperfect. In elementary school, all my parent’s problems here hidden; I didn’t understand my family’s economic status. As I grew older and began to ask my parents question about our lifestyle and compared it to the other people around us. This conversation would always end in the same place; because we can't afford it. My high school is composed of economically unstable families, and economically stable families. Seeing that other families were better off than mine, I grew up with the idea that a comfortable life, is a luxurious life. I know that others around

It’s time to get rid of the idea of the “American Dream” we once cherished. The "American Dream" has strayed so far from the true, original meaning and has instead become a convoluted, argumentative point for politicians to use in their speeches. No one can openly oppose it because it captures our faith in advancement as a nation. Opposing it would be unpatriotic no matter how unrealistic it truly is. That is the exact reason this phrase has survived all odds, it provides hope for those without. It is what drives us all, whether we know it or not, even though its nothing but an unreachable dream.

After listening to his response, my following question was do you believe that the American dream is still attainable today, or are obstacles preventing us from achieving it? “Oh there’s always obstacles, but most of the obstacles are self created. People make excuses for everything. We live in a society where everyone is a victim. Reality is we have a system that allows you to achieve if you want to. You have to want it. If you don’t want to achieve you won’t. If you want people to hand you things then they will. But they will only hand you so much. Your never away from getting a handout.”

The State of Opportunity team was looking into ways African Americans in Michigan can get ahead by collecting statistics along with personal stories of families in order to create a poverty fixation project. Putting an end to a two week long data collection session, the team created a list of a four facts about the American Dream. The first fact stated that if you wanted to achieve the American Dream, America is actually not a very good place to try to do it. Well at least when it’s compared to other industrialized nations. They found out that if you start out poor and you want to get ahead, you would have a

“We talk about the American Dream, and want to tell the world about the American Dream, but what is the dream, in most cases, but the dream of material things? I sometimes think that the United States for this reason is the greatest failure the world has ever seen.”

Unkept promises diminish day by day. What once may have given people ambition and zeal has transformed into a superficial and consumerist ideal. In the nation’s youth, the American Dream was a promise to the people which has failed to impart its values to future generations. This promise traces back to the foundation that “all men are created equal” and Dictionary.com’s first definition defines the American Dream as “the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American.” This is closest to the originally intended meaning of the American Dream which perhaps only a minority of the population still recognizes. Politics and economy have contributed to the significant change in meaning and

I was fascinated by how an individual would not let society keep it from doing what it enjoyed. Equality 7-2521, who was an intelligent and curious individual, lived in a society that was shadowed by collectivism, performing the unwanted task of sweeping the city’s streets. However, he was willing to risk is life to do something that he enjoyed, which was to learn, experiment, and create. Equality 7-2521 defied all of society’s commandments and committed several transgressions just to bring “light” to his brothers, who were blinded by the darkness of society. Having pursued such an act, Equality 7-2521 displayed courage, intelligence, and the willingness to fight for and pursue happiness. This scene has taught me that, even under the oppression of others, I should pursue a career that I enjoy and fight for what makes me

Growing up in such a poverty struck town, you feel for people a little more than average. You learn to appreciate what you have because you can see what others are lacking. My 5a high school has roughly 1,200 students where at least 25% of those kids are failing one or more classes. However it is not their fault at all. Being the fourth least educated city in the United State and so close to the poverty line, Brownsville kids miss many educational opportunities because of the weak mindset they are immune to. It is hard to maintain an ambitious state of being when everyone around you seems to already have their life set on staying exactly where they are. However because of my exposure to this specific way of thinking, it has assisted me in establishing and craving the want for more. Because of Brownsville’s mentality, I am self-driven. I have seen what I don’t want to become, and it has planted the seed to exceed past my bubble. I can do whatever I set my mind too even if all the odds are against

However, we must remember an important fact: our generation of American faces the same wall of hopelessness that stood before those who lived through the Great Depression – and they overcame it. What we can take from them, is that we can succeed if we accept the simple fact that we must do what must be done, even if it isn’t desirable. If we graduate with a degree in fashion marketing and fail to secure employment, we work at a retail store in order to pay rent and get the bills paid. Running around for hours to work in a store takes grit; being underemployed takes gut; learning from experience and applying it to one’s life creates character. And one day, we grow. That in my belief is “the Dream.” For too many versions of “the Dream” equate prosperity to happiness, happiness I feel is not so simple. This makes it seem that the American Dream may always remain tantalizingly out of reach for some Americans, making the dream more like a cruel joke rather than a genuine dream. Perhaps, what our generation needs is to

We as people mustn’t give in to failures and shortcomings; rather, we should rally and fight back. There will always be obstacles that seem tough, but we need to find our way around them. And whenever we achieve something great, instead of hoarding assets, we should give back to whatever is important to us. My individual targets were school-aged children and anyone who had helped me climb that ever so high mountain. I never wanted to forget where I came from. There was a time when I was just a poor farmer in central Pennsylvania with no foreseeable future, no positive outlook. I don’t want anyone in a similar situation to surrender to whatever hand they are dealt with. In my opinion, everyone should at least have an opportunity to accomplish something meaningful. I hope that I made a difference in the lives of as many people as possible. My dream is that one day, the name “Milton Hershey” will be associated with more than just chocolate. No, I am not ignoring the fact that candy paved the way for my notoriety and capital. However, I do not feel that the Hershey’s Bar or Hershey’s Kiss are my greatest gifts to the world, and my hope is that others will at some point agree with

The United States of America is the most powerful and wealthy country in the world. The varieties of class, individuality, religion, and race are a few of the enrichments within the "melting pot" of our society. The blend of these numerous diversities is the crucial ingredient to our modern nation. Even though America has been formed upon these diversities, its inhabitants- the "average American"- have a single thing in common; a single idea; a single goal; the American Dream. The Dream consists of a seemingly simple concept; success. Americans dream of a successful marriage, family, successful job, and own a Victorian-style home with a white picket fence and an oak tree with a swing tire in the front yard. The

The American Dream isn’t a piece of legislation or doctrine laid down on paper by the founding fathers, it’s an idea passed down from generation to generation as a path to prosperity. This idea however, is gradually dying out with each passing generation as people continue to lose confident in their influence on the world around them. This mentality is sprinkled about in nearly every aspect of American life now, from the spread of cynicism to lack of political activism in the average citizen. This is felt most in the most recent generation to reach adulthood, the often-derided Millennials. A Daily Beast article by Joel Kotkin depicts a transformation in this generation from opportunity-devouring carnivores into passive herbivores, stating “Rather than seek new worlds to

In early child life and according to the VALS, I grew up in the survivors’ category. At the time it was my dad taking care of a four year old boy and three year old twins, all of us living in my dad’s green Ford Aero Star. Now that I became an adult and looking back, I don’t regret any of it or don’t wish things were different because, it has taught me a lesson of appreciation and has granted me a growth mindset. Unfortunately, in Twichells’s editorial, I am disposed in the trendy pile of the strivers class, I dislike this because by definition this class values money as success but not by principle or morals. On the bright side, I personally am happy to announce I am also a combination of the fulfilled, believers, and the makers groups. I

As a family of six I was raised on section 8, barely surviving on welfare. I shared beds and clothes with dreams of making it out of poverty, but with little guidance I was at risk of continuing this lifestyle for generations to come. My mother was always at work and my father was absent, which made me skip childhood and mature in order to become independent. I was never that child who had their mother sitting at the table telling them how to do their homework, but rather a child who stood on the table all day and night trying to teach myself. I knew from an early age that I wanted more in life than used clothes and a bike as transportation. I had the dream of attending college and becoming a doctor in philosophy.