Personal Narrative: The American Dream

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.

"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

It all starter on september of 2007, I was brought to the United States by my parents to make happer the American dream. I was born and raise in Guatatoya, Guatemala, a wonderful place where people are humble and happ, and enjoy being helpful to family members and stragers. My parents brought us (my brothers and myself) with one goal for us, to improve our life and graduate from college. It has being rough because it was challenging to overcome the barrier of languague and customs, but now we have adapted to these barriers.

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 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.

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

Anyone who has the desire to live in the Unites States of America knows that it is the greatest nation among all nations. People either have little knowledge of other countries to believe this general notion or have truly seen and been informed of the opportunal prosperity that exists in the spirit of America. The American Dream is the idea that sets the minds of people determined to be part of a great nation because everyone has the equal opportunity to become successful and prosperous, if you work hard enough to achieve it. The American Dream is the reason why so many people come to the United States in search for better economic and liberty opportunities. What causes frustration and discouragement to enter this nation is the fact that the

First off, we must understand the definition of this so called, “American Dream”. A basic definition would describe it as, “the mindset that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative”. Now in a way this can either be true or false. You could either strive for success and work your entire life to make it to the “White picket fence”, or you could be born with a silver spoon and literally have everything you needed in life just given to you. This is also a lifestyle we all sought out to be an easy task to live every day in this “American Dream.” Let’s look into some readings that actually tell about these thoughts.

Today the American Dream is a lose term that has almost lost its meaning. However, it still exists as a loosely compiled list of ideals and goals. The dream also changed depending on age. For younger people, it is the dream of getting a college education as well as achieving instant success in life. For college students into mid adulthood it is being able to be debt free, and not needing financial aid. This is accompanied by the ideal of owning a home, some place to call their own. For some people the goal of being debt free carries on into later adulthood due to the expenses of college and the effects of the

Back in 2001 I migrated here in the United States from the Philippines. I lived in San Francisco for a bit then moved to Las Vegas. I thought living here in the United States would make us rich, but I was wrong.

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.