The American Dream

The American Dream of moving through society from the "bottom up" is a thought that has resonated in the minds of American citizens since the 19th century. In the mid 1850s, many immigrants came to the Americas to start anew based off of the lack of a strict hierarchical social system.  This common ground significantly decreased the distinction between social classes, allowing more social mobility. America became the country, "where dreams come true." Instead of being born into a system that had no mobility, a man could move up in status based off of his hard work. This idea of honor and hard work has been recently been magnified onto students in the US. Every kid in elementary school is a fish in the same net. Since I was a little kid, the goal of an ivy league education has been drilled into me like hammer to nails. My mother was a single parent, unsatisfied with her mediocre living standards, so I grew up being told I could do anything. Well, anything if I worked hard enough for a scholarship.  I know that I'm not unique in this way. Going to a school like Whitney, many kids strive to take the hardest possible classes with the potential for the best possible grade; regardless of their own interests that don't benefit the god sent piece of paper that determines the rest of your life college application. Whether school administrators accept this obvious community consensus is beside the point. I have big dreams; dreams that I know can only be accomplished by hard work. The difference between today and the 19th century is that instead of it being applied into adulthood with movement within job positions, it's now hammered into the minds of middle and lower class children as the only option of success. 

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