...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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...(2003) states money can buy temporary happiness. Like when you buy a brand-new BMW you are only happy for a short amount of time and then it diminishes (p. 46). After having my fourth child,...
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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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...Picture this: flashing camera lights, a beautiful outfit, and empowering words pouring out from the photographer that dances around one while trying to find their most flattering angles. How would they feel? Loved? Confident? Amazing? Confidence plays a very large role in our society. So many doors open up when one possesses confidence. Confidence, the key to the world, empowers worthiness. My greatest desire in life, to change the world by giving people unfailing confidence, can be achieved by capturing ravishing photographs that reveal their worth. The lack of confidence, a serious issue today, affects how one thinks and acts, how they feel about others, and how successful they become in life. What may seem like such a small characteristic...
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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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...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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...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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...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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...school, there has been very few days where I am not stressed. Endless amounts of homework to accompany the numerous AP classes, extensive hours invested into after school activities, and the desire to be a venturous teenager is just my typical lifestyle. Never without someplace to be or something to do leaves me constantly stressed and awfully tired, but it is just what it takes to live the exciting life that I crave. The pressure and expectations I put on myself are high,but it is just the price to pay to ensure the best possible future for myself. When my parents were growing up, their standards and dreams were much more traditional and had much less pressure and competitiveness. Their idea of the American dream was to go to college to get a good job, get married and have kids, and live a successful, happy life. Both of them had to work hard to get where they are now and eventually fulfilled their dreams. The reality of the American dream now is that we don’t all live for the same dream and instead all strive for...
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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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...One of the best decisions I have made in my life was to move to Florida. Never thought moving to Florida was going to make me feel so great. When my wife and I decided to move to Florida to see if we can have better opportunities, we were both absolutely afraid of this new journey. Although, we both transferred from our Jobs, we were both hoping we can make this dream comes true. Since I came to the United States of America, back in 2010. I have tried to join school and become a professional. That has been always my dream. After I was transferred from the New York facility to the Boca Raton, Florida facility realized that I was wasting all my time being out from school. I decided to join Lynn University because my employer see I am a potential...
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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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