The American Dream
I would define the American Dream as the belief that anyone can attain wealth and success who is willing to work hard for them. While the idea of the American Dream might be superficial to others, it has always been a central part of my life. I am a very goal-oriented person, and I take pride in setting goals for myself and working hard enough to achieve them. I gave a graduation speech at my middle school on how it provided my classmates and I with the foundation to achieve our dreams. I try to achieve these goals I set for myself by identifying the most plausible path that will lead me to fulfillment. For instance, I wanted to become a better writer; Solution: join IB. In these ways, I feel that the key to success is the inability to be complacent with any aspect of your life, intellectually, socially, or physically. I am a firm believer in the notion that the pathway to success is paved with a constant mentality of self-improvement, and I have become such a goal-oriented person as a result.
A dream of mine has always been to be "remembered." To be looked back on by those who knew me (and maybe those who didn't), and for them to say: "You know, that kid Luke White really could ____." Fill in the blank for yourself. I think defining wealth as an numerical value is shallow. I see wealth not as the material gain someone makes in their lifetime, but rather the extent to which they are remembered. A wealthy individual is not one who necessarily has access to millions of small, green pieces of paper, but one who has made an impact on millions of people.
Finally, the American Dream is a very optimistic way of looking at life, and I think that's why I associate myself with it so much. In reality, a fraction of a percentage of the American population will become remembered, but that doesn't stop me from believing that I am that fraction of a percent.
Also, while American success is idealized in the American Dream, it is severely judged in the view of poverty. While we acclaim and award people for their hard work to attain such a high status in society through the American Dream, we look down upon those who we firmly believed to have failed such a dream. We ignore people on the streets begging for money as if they didn't exist. While some in poverty are drug addicts and screw ups, I feel that we, as Americans, judge those of more than likely unfortunate circumstances too harshly.
While the American Dream is a tool that I use for self-motivation to become closer to achieving my goals, it can also be a tool for us to sub-conciously judge those who do not live up to that dream, and that needs to change.
A dream of mine has always been to be "remembered." To be looked back on by those who knew me (and maybe those who didn't), and for them to say: "You know, that kid Luke White really could ____." Fill in the blank for yourself. I think defining wealth as an numerical value is shallow. I see wealth not as the material gain someone makes in their lifetime, but rather the extent to which they are remembered. A wealthy individual is not one who necessarily has access to millions of small, green pieces of paper, but one who has made an impact on millions of people.
Finally, the American Dream is a very optimistic way of looking at life, and I think that's why I associate myself with it so much. In reality, a fraction of a percentage of the American population will become remembered, but that doesn't stop me from believing that I am that fraction of a percent.
Also, while American success is idealized in the American Dream, it is severely judged in the view of poverty. While we acclaim and award people for their hard work to attain such a high status in society through the American Dream, we look down upon those who we firmly believed to have failed such a dream. We ignore people on the streets begging for money as if they didn't exist. While some in poverty are drug addicts and screw ups, I feel that we, as Americans, judge those of more than likely unfortunate circumstances too harshly.
While the American Dream is a tool that I use for self-motivation to become closer to achieving my goals, it can also be a tool for us to sub-conciously judge those who do not live up to that dream, and that needs to change.
Hey Luke, not sure why this won't say my name but it's Graham. I know that we are very similar in the sense of being optimistic and goal driven so I was drawn to your blog. I definitely believe that the idealism of the American dream as a motivation is important to hold on to as you said and that the pursuit of money can be shallow and does not truly define wealth. However, the one area where I think it is important to be careful how you look at it is that you really want to be in that fraction of the percent and want to be remembered. Now don't get me wrong I completely believe in you and have met very few people with the same drive, motivation, and compassion that you have but just wanted you to know that for if whatever reason if you don't meet the world's definition of the American Dream, it doesn't mean you have failed. That is something I have been trying to process when thinking about my career as I want to make money and want to have a huge impact and be remembered but I believe if you can truly be remembered by your peers and those you come in contact with as someone who loved and served well then you have lived a life far greater than any title of the American Dream. I definitely believe both are possible but personally, in my pursuit of the American Dream I don't want to lose the latter. I believe in you man, it's yours for the taking.
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