The American Dream is often sought of as the ultimate accomplishment. Millions of immigrants travel to the United States every year to chase after the American dream not only for themselves, but for their families too. No matter your social status, upbringing, ethnicity or gender, through hard work you can become anything, and my parents chased after that for me.
Like many families before mine, my family on both sides of the family immigrated to America. I am a first generation American on both sides of my family. My father was born and raised in Venezuela and my mother was born and raised in England. Both of my parents made it to the United States with their siblings and my grandparents with nothing but a few personal items, and what they
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Cultural differences were sometimes difficult for me and my American friends since they couldn’t relate to having close immigrant relatives. This made me often feel isolated amongst peers my age because they would pick on me for those cultural differences. So, I channeled my differences through theater and soccer which pushed me harder not only to find myself but also define myself. Whenever I was on stage or on the field, I had a sense of belonging and began to find myself.
At the age of 16, I dropped out of high school to care for my grandmother who was unable to care for herself and quickly obtained my GED within 6 months of leaving high school. As I began to grow up and mature, I started to discover my own identity. When you are a child from an immigrant family, it’s hard to find your own identity since your family members are so involved in planning who they want you to be, or telling you who you should be rather than supporting you finding out who you are.
My mother and father still hold traditional family values, which seems outdated today. And they did not support me going to college or working and felt that I should marry someone and was well off who could take care of me while I tended to taking care of my family. However, I had different ideas and plans for