My Perception of the American Dream through My Mother and Father: Opinion Essay

The American Dream, an experience every single person desires to have. The idea of the American Dream differs with each individual. My perception of the American Dream runs through my Mother And Father. The sacrifices and experiences my Mother and Father went through to obtain the American Dream shaped the person I am today. The struggle of them leaving everything behind; family, friends, and households so us, their children, could have a better life is truly astonishing. Their capability of connecting into a whole new world with a whole new group of people is remarkable. As a child my family and I went through many hardships. The scarcity of money was a huge contributing factor to our daily struggles. There were weeks where we didn’t have the money to buy the basic necessities to sustain our family. As I grew up I saw the struggles my Mother and Father went through each day. My Mother would not eat at times so my Father, Brothers, and I would have sufficient food to eat. There were other days were my Father would not eat as well. Whatever it was, I was always grateful I had something to eat, even if it wasn’t enough to fill my stomach up. My Father, a hard and humble working man, worked every bone in his body to provide for all of us. I was around Thirteen years old when my Father took me to work for the very first time. I remember that day very clearly, first of all I dread it because I had to get up at Six a.m to get ready for work. The quantity and type of work I did that day was exhausting. By lunch time I couldn’t do it no more, I felt sick to my stomach as if in any moment I would regurgitate. My back begged me to no longer continue, the pain was excruciating. The intensity and heat of the sun was unbearable, I felt as the rays of

The American Dream, an experience every single person desires to have. The idea of the American Dream differs with each individual. My perception of the American Dream runs through my Mother And Father. The sacrifices and experiences my Mother and Father went through to obtain the American Dream shaped the person I am today.

The struggle of them leaving everything behind; family, friends, and households so us, their children, could have a better life is truly astonishing. Their capability of connecting into a whole new world with a whole new group of people is remarkable. As a child my family and I went through many hardships. The scarcity of money was a huge contributing factor to our daily struggles. There were weeks where we didn’t have the money to buy the basic necessities to sustain our family. As I grew up I saw the struggles my Mother and Father went through each day. My Mother would not eat at times so my Father, Brothers, and I would have sufficient food to eat. There were other days were my Father would not eat as well. Whatever it was, I was always grateful I had something to eat, even if it wasn’t enough to fill my stomach up. My Father, a hard and humble working man, worked every bone in his body to provide for all of us. I was around Thirteen years old when my Father took me to work for the very first time. I remember that day very clearly, first of all I dread it because I had to get up at Six a.m to get ready for work. The quantity and type of work I did that day was exhausting. By lunch time I couldn’t do it no more, I felt sick to my stomach as if in any moment I would regurgitate. My back begged me to no longer continue, the pain was excruciating. The intensity and heat of the sun was unbearable, I felt as the rays of the sun pierced through my skin burning it relentlessly. As we drove back home, my anger and frustration was off the roofs with my Father. I was furious at the fact that he put me through this horrendous experience. However, I’ve always thanked him for showing me the difficulty and exhaustion construction based work is. My grades in middle school weren’t the best and at times I liked to cause trouble. Days later my parents sat down and had a small talk with me. Several questions were thrown at me, but the one that genuinely made me question my actions was, “Is this really what you want to be doing 10 to 20 years from now?” As the day went on several questions overflowed my mind, Do I really want to be working the way my dad does from Seven a.m to Six p.m? Is this really the path I want to lead myself into? So many questions came to mind, but I decided from that day forward to put a lot of more effort and dedication into my school work. Experiencing the type of work my Father does on daily basis undoubtedly shaped the way I am academically today.

My Mother’s and Father’s childhood experiences really impacted me as well. I learned I was very fortunate to be where I was at the time and receive the education I was receiving. My Father was just Fourteen years old when he migrated to the United States. He left his Mother, Brother, and Sisters behind as he came looking for a job. As they had no financial support from their Father, every dollar every penny my Father made was sent straight back to them as a way to provide for their education and necessity costs. His story impacted me in a way I can’t explain. One thing is certain, ever since that day I’m thankful I grew up with a role-model father that financially and emotionally was there to support me. My Mother and her family struggled as well. There were days were all they had eat to was a simple piece of bread. There were weeks where she would go on a vacant stomach for several days. She came to the United States at the age of eighteen married to my Father. Not seeing my family in a over week seems like an eternity to me. Well my Mother almost went a decade without being able to see her family. I can’t imagine not being able to see my Mother, Father, and Brothers for almost a decade. My Mother’s story inspired me to push past my boundaries and not let her sacrifice go to waste the way I was doing.

Their experiences and sacrifices indeed helped me become who I am today. The difficulty of their childhood really impacted me as well. It inspired me to do better in school, not just for them, but for myself as well. Even though my parents didn’t get to fully live out the American Dream, they can live it through me. I aspire to do many great things in the following years of my life. I aspire to do my absolute best to make sure their sacrifices don’t go to waste. I aspire to do my absolute best so my brothers can have an amazing role model to look up to. I aspire to do my absolute best to be the first one in my family to attend and graduate college. Lastly, I aspire to be a first generation Longhorn and do my absolute best to change the world.