...The Crash of the American Dream When most people think of the American Dream the first thing that comes to mind is the house with the white picket fence, the 2.5 children, a nice reliable minivan or SUV, and the dog or cat. The American Dream is really not what it used to be, and it is getting harder and harder to obtain. With the effects of the economic crisis still shaping our everyday lifestyle, there is still little to no relief. We are still dealing with no jobs, and the ones you do get don’t pay nearly enough. The price to go back to school to try to improve your work situation has become more and more expensive, and to top it off you can barely get any kind of loans because you don’t make enough. It has become this vicious circle that...
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...The American Dream: Alive and Thriving Everybody is entitled to their own dreams and ambitions no matter their race, color, or gender. When the term “American dream” is heard, most people visualize an enormous house with a stunning car and a beautiful family. Others may think more simplistic, like a simple God given right: freedom. Everyone has their own definition of the American dream, but I have a different perspective. I see it as how I want my life to be in the future, and the steps I will take to get there. The American dream is about opportunity, and there are plenty of opportunities in this nation. To pursue a bright future, one must obtain education and acquire a satisfactory job. This nation provides people with exactly what they need, and as knowledge is obtained; changing, growing, learning and becoming the person that we want to be is taking effect. America is a place where the people are nourished and have the freedom to chase their dreams, which clearly means the American dream is still alive. In 2007, the president of Purdue University, Martin C. Jischke delivered a speech to a graduating class concerning the American dream. Jischke explained how difficult it was way back in the day to get an education and become successful. He also went on to explain the Great Depression. During that time there was hardly any money to afford an education, let alone be sent to college. When Jischke had the opportunity, he took it without hesitation and received scholarships...
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...The concept of American Dream in general can be described as a life of personal happiness and material comfort as traditionally sought by individuals in the U.S. It is a very vague concept as people tend to input their own perceptions. The American Dream can highly be related to my goals and aspirations. I try to name one personal who wouldn’t relate to the American Dream and I found none. But attaining that level of serenity and comfort is a challenge especially at this point of time. In relations to the context of the book “The Great Gatsby” and basing it upon the author’s emotion, this book portrays the 1920’s as an era of decayed social and moral values. The evidence was verified as a part of greed, empty pursuit of pleasure, and attaining the raging peck by overthrowing anyone that stands on the way. Whereas my professional goals and objective are the exact opposite from the context of this book. Yes, I too want to attain the highest possible peak in relations to my field, but I want to earn it being ethical towards my society and surroundings. The word “ethics”, means a lot to me, and upon the current economic and social standpoint, it is hard to afford ethics but we can. This World is a cruel place to live in but then again it’s a challenge for us young personal’s to modify and make this place livable. Probably, we won’t be privileged to enjoy our time of life, but we can make sure to make it a better place and set a stage that can be crucial for the next upcoming...
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...years I have been part of many extracurricular activities, volunteer, and work experiences that have enriched my high school experience. I was the captain of the girls cross country team and of the track and field team. I was responsible of leading the runners throughout workouts and races with positivity. I also have been an active member in clubs including Medi-careers and Hispanic Youth Leadership Council. Medi-careers club gave me the opportunity to learn about different professions in the medical field. In the Hispanic Youth Leadership Council club, I have worked with others to spread the Hispanic culture through events that spread the unique traditions. Helping others overcome economic and psychological challenges has truly help form the person I am today. I have volunteered at the Salvation Army by serving food to homeless individuals on Sundays. Sometimes the community forgets about homeless individuals and they are human beings who need support. They share their hardships with me and I try to be someone they can talk to so they don't feel lonely. I have also volunteered in Project Blanket which is an organization that helps make fleece blankets for low-income individuals and for cancer patients. We then distribute the blankets to local hospitals and churches....
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...for the American Dream, it is based on the belief that an individual’s position in society is determined by how hard he has worked to get there and be in that position. The American Dream is the system in the United States that sets ideals such as democracy, liberty, equality etc, and that with enough effort, one can succeed within all those aspects irrespective of one’s identity or social class. I don't think minimum wage work can lead towards the American Dream. In Barbara Ehrenreich’s experiment on minimum wage work and its affects on people, she states that “low wage work actually involves more hardship and depravation than life at the mercy of the welfare state.” In her personal experience of not being able to keep up with two jobs, she questions how single mothers are able to adapt to such circumstances, with the additional pressure of having a child as well as fulfilling basic human needs of food, shelter and clothing. Many low wage jobs are demanding and require people to work hard and put in a great deal of effort. Despite that, however hard they work, there are several barriers that prevent individuals from moving up the social ladder, thereby making it difficult to to fulfill the American...
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...The Rise of Gary Soto Poetry can often be a way for writers to reflect on their lives and to express feelings like sorrow and happiness from their past. Through this, a clear parallel can be drawn between a poet’s life and their work. A poet’s specific life events are often influential in the themes displayed in their poetry. By drawing from life experiences, poets may be able to infuse deeper meaning into their poems because the poet has truly gone through the emotions of these occurrences firsthand. This creates a deeper and more thoughtful poem as the poets are writing about a subject they themselves have faced. The harsh and impoverished youth of Gary Soto had a strong influence on his works as themes of poverty, growing up, empathy, and the American dream are present in his poems. In “Small Town with One Road” Gary Soto uses personification and symbolism to communicate the poem’s theme of the American Dream (going from poverty to riches through hard work regardless of who you are). The poem implements some of Soto’s life...
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...In this day and time we live in the economy is in a down slop. There are plenty of people who would love to purchase their dream home such as myself and there are a lot of people who become trapped in mortgages that they can no longer afford and eventually lose the house that they worked so hard for. Now they can no longer afford to buy a home so they move into rental properties where it is much easier for them to afford. I am a renter and have been for many years. There are a lot of advantages to being a renter and there are disadvantages as well. Owning a home is a dream that I wish to accomplish one day. With the way that economy is going I choose to continue on with renting for my housing needs. The advantage of being a renter is that your monthly payments are fixed for the term of your lease. The feeling of having a fixed monthly payment is good because you always know how much money you will need to put to the side each month for your payments. With knowing how much money you have to spend each month you are better able to plan and budget for future activities and trips. On the other hand with having a house you have a mortgage payment. A mortgage payment is the amount of money that you pay a bank or other financial institute back ...
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...pursuit of more." In recent years, the U.S. has entered the age of affluenza completely. Therefore, a book which is named after the disease is written to introduce the symptoms, explain the causes of the disease, and provide the treatment to cure affluenza. After taking the self-diagnosis exam from that book, I realize that I am somehow infected by the sickness and I recognize I have symptoms of it. There is a symptom that influenceed my lifestyle indirectly. Although I am not under any stress, but my parents are affected. They work almost 7 days a week, from 8 am to 7 pm, about half of the day. The reason that they keep working is so they always want to buy something extra to our household, such as furnitures which does not fit in the apartment. For instance, I have two computers so there is always a free one for my parents to use. During last Thanksgiving, my mom bought another laptop computer. I was able to count how many times she has used it with my hands. Finally, that laptop computer was given to my cousin who started attending college last year. Currently, my mom is making plans to buy another replacement. The particular issue which affects me the most is my addiction to Internet and video...
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...self-fulfilment. Although I concur with the aforementioned explanations, I have supplementary reasons I agree that a college education is of high importance to me. First, college education will permit me to afford a better living standards for my family and household. We have survived without what several people consider to be basic. Buying a house, annual holidays, frequent camping expeditions, all-terrain cars and speedboats are all only a fantasy to my family. By attaining a college degree, I can secure my dream profession and begin to make those fantasies an actuality. Second, it will offer motivation to my kids. Not only will the degree provide me with a better position to take part in my children’s classrooms assignments at school, I will similarly be helpful in the life choices they will want to pursue being a role model for them. Attempting to get a college education after marriage with children may also be challenging and may require me to put off those decisions to raise a family. However, currently with the enormously fast progress in technology, attaining an education will be made considerably easy. Patty Murray noted "A good education means learning to read, write and most importantly learn how to learn so that you can be whatever you want to be when you grow up”(Vavrus, 2002). Securing a college degree will assist in eliminating several obstacles and providing me with the opportunities to improve and provide myself with a more prosperous life that I can consider satisfying...
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...earns $15,080 annually. In 2012, the poverty threshold for a single person was $11,945. For a family of four with two children, it was $22,283” -University of California-Davis. In Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, Barbara Ehrenreich tells a powerful and tenacious story of the day to day survival of low-income workers in America. Her story transcends the disparity that exists between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat society and uncovers the dark truths that lie hidden beyond the popular portrayal of the “American dream”. The book gives the reader an insiders’ view into the world of the proletariat society, a peculiar place to which majority...
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...thought you knew by learning the truth. Loss destroys peoples lives. In the short story “Was it a Dream?” written by Guy De Meapassant, man is mourning after the loss of his beloved wife, only to discover after her death that she was unfaithful to him. The guy is lost because his entire world is turned upside down because not only has he lost his partner, but he's lost the reassurance that was helping him cope by thinking his wife truly did love him even though she didn't. “The Gift...
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...Timoria Morgan English Comp 1 Mr. McDonald January 30, 2014 My reasons to be in college are probably just like anyone else. My two main reason for be in college is that I wanted my dream job of becoming a teacher and to get the whole college experience. Since I did not really have that whole high school experience, so this was my chance, to make up for it. A job can be simply defined as a regular activity performed in exchange for payment. I believe that today you have to be extremely gifted at a job in order to be able to stay with it your entire working career. Nowadays many people are thrown from job to job seeking stability in their lives. Almost everyone enters the workforce to try and provide whatever they can for their family. It’s hard to compete in today’s occupations with more and more people striving to get to the top, to be the boss with the newly remodeled home, 2.5 kids, golden retriever, cabin in the mountains, and Mercedes Benz. People feel a great achievement when they have reached the point where they can provide these material things to their families no matter how they do it or what they have to go through to get it, whether it be working long hours or cheating the stock market. Unfortunately it’s the same people who forget who got them to the point where they can afford their Mercedes Benz. I feel that credit should not only be given to family, friends, and pastors, rabbis or priests, but also to teachers. Any school could always use another...
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...ways in which one was able to overcome the challenges or perhaps failed to address them. This essay involves a self-reflection in one of my most stressful lifetime situation and how I managed to cope up with it. The Stressful Situation Back in high school, my dream was to excel academically so that I could pursue a Business Management degree by getting a scholarship to study at Oxford University. Bearing that in mind, I had to work hard to attain a grade that will enable me to get the scholarship. The reason as to why I always wanted to get the sponsorship is because I was pretty sure that my parents would not afford to pay school fees in any university. I worked extremely hard in my studies, spending sleepless nights, forming discussion groups and sacrificing my social life so that I could have more time to concentrate on my studies. After leaving high school, I was pretty sure that I had done my best to achieve the grade that I always wanted. After the results had been released, I was so shocked to see that I had not attained a grade that would allow me to get the scholarship. It suddenly dawned on me that my life had come to a stop and that my dreams were shattered. I knew that my parents would not afford college school fees due to their low income and the dependence of many family members for basic needs and education. I had dreams of...
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...What is your vision for America? In my vision for America I think we could change and improve many things. My vision for America would be my ultimate utopia. First, I think that in america there shouldn’t be any people who are suffering from not having a home or not being able to afford something that is a necessity. Secondly, We would have a cure for all diseases for anyone who might have something simple like a cold or for anyone who might have something as severe as cancer. Lastly, In my vision for America there would be an unlimited amount of jobs for anyone and everyone. Those are a few of the things I would change to fit my vision of America. The first thing I would change in america so that it fit my vision would be the amount of people who are suffering. I would make it so that everyone had a home to live in so that there aren’t so...
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...important to me is that I want to be a role model for my two daughters. Secondly, furthering my education can mean a many great opportunities for advancing in my career and in life. Leading or setting the example for my daughters is very important to me. By actively portraying to my daughters the importance of having a college education after high school, they will engage into participating in a plethora of new opportunities in their own lives which will enhance their way of living. They see how hard I study and how important my grades are to me that it encourages them to do the same in their high school studies now. They actively partake in my studies now, which in turn, results in them asking me questions on what I am studying. Having them involved is having them engaged in their own thought processes. If I have done that for them then I feel like I am doing my job as a Mother. I encourage them to follow in my footsteps so that they can have a better life for themselves. The second reason college is so important to me is the fact it will change my way of life. Studies show that a college education leads to better paying careers and/or advancements in a career. Having a better paying career will give me the opportunity to pay to further my daughters’ college education. It will allow me to advance in my career now or seek a better paying job if I choose to do so. With a plethora of opportunities, having a college education can only enhance my way of life and open...
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