The American Dream, the ideal that every US citizen should have an equal opportunity to
achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative. This is the
literal definition of The American Dream. The first American dream. This is the one that our
ancestors of the past followed to carve the land, to build, and to prosper. For the original
American Dream, this was a definition of hope, a dream that could be achieved. But that was a
Dream of a time long past. Is it still the Dream of today?
A recent poll in 2014 stated that half the people thought the dream dead. The main reason
being that many think it is unattainable for themselves. People that have different financial
situations is the second most thought of reason.
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Many even state that you can’t
look forward to a secured retirement. This is what led to the lost of hope in The American
Dream. Even books such as The Great Gatsby showed the dark side of the Dream, Gatsby’s
inability to get Daisy, despite all he did. “Could we as a nation have lost touch with what makes
us so distinctly ‘American’?”(Sokol)
Even then there are still people left who believe the Dream lives. A non-profit
organization known as Horatio Alger Association has awarded more than $100 million dollars to
undergraduate scholarships. And it all started from a single man. Nathan Nguyen, a Vietnam
emigrant, was a boy with little money who came to America with his parents. Although they
struggled with finances, they were determined to make a life. Two years after receiving his
scholarship, he established a music help center known as Instrumental Savings, and Nguyen
succeeded this by using the American Dream. Soon, at the age of 22, he was a millionaire.
Nguyen’s success wasn’t that uncommon. Many people who have come to North
America seek to make a living, and work hard to do so. But what many don’t anticipate is