"The American Dream"

The American Dream

The American Dream is something that makes America great. It allows those with aspirations to make them come true. In America all one needs is a dream and the motivation to carry out that dream. Ambition is the driving force behind the American Dream. It allows anyone that has an aspiration, a desire, a yearning, to carry out their individual dream. It knows no bounds of race, creed, gender or religion. It stands for something great, something that everyone can strive towards. A dream can be a desire for something great. In America, the American Dream allows dreams to become realities.

According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the American Dream is defined as, "An American social ideal that stresses egalitarianism and especially material prosperity." To live this dream is to succeed. It allows anyone- rich or poor to have the opportunity to succeed. It is the ability to come from nothing and become something. It requires hard work, persistence and a desire for something better. To have these qualities and the desire and ambition to carry them out is part of the American Dream. My father has these qualities.

My father came to the United States when he was a young child and was raised in a one bedroom apartment that he shared with his parents and brother. Still he had a dream, the American Dream, to own his own business. This dream for him came about when he was a young boy and read the book The Rothschilds, by Frederic Morton. In this book he read about a family that came from nothing and built up a fortune through hard work perseverance and most of all ambition. It was this yearning to carry out their dream that motivated the Rothschilds, and it was the book about them that motivated my dad to carry out his dream. He said that "...once I read that book[The Rothschilds] I knew what I wanted to do, I wanted to own my own business and be like the Rothschilds."

In 1982, my younger brother had just been born, and my father lost his job. Things seemed hopeless for us; we would almost certainly lose our house. My mother was working two jobs, from seven in the morning to ten, sometimes eleven at night; and my father couldn't find a job anywhere. He said that "...this was the hardest part of my life. Either everything was going to fall into place, or my life wasa going to fall apart...Once I got through these times, I knew I would succeed."

My father withdrew all of his savings, borrowed some money from my uncle and attempted to carry out what he always dreamed about, starting his own business. In order to start the business he wanted, he had to go to a convention in Las Vegas. "If you go, we are leaving," my mother told my father(referring to herself, my brother and I). He left and we stayed. He did not intend to let an opportunity to carry ...