American Dream Perspective | Teen Ink

American Dream Perspective

September 10, 2014
By apaz2016 BRONZE, Pacoima, California
apaz2016 BRONZE, Pacoima, California
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

A close family friend of mine has turned fifty one years old. She remarkably doesn’t look her age and was a little offended when I started to question her. Though she just laughed it off playfully. When she was young, her life-long goal was actually surprising, yet also logical. She wanted to grow up and get married, have four children, and have a home to spend at with her all her family. She explained how, she loved and still loves kids, and that back then, the dream wasn’t spectacular and grand, it was simple and logical. Work wasn’t something missed since she worked every day since she was eight on the fields and at home. Work was being done, and thinking of having a family in the future will be the main goal. Her life continued, kept going and growing as also did her community and/or family. She didn't think about money because there wasn’t much of it and everything she and her family ever needed was done at home. They had fruit trees, worked on their land and crops, and tended to their animals. Most of her time, transportation was trucked, carts with animals, but most of all walking. When she had free time, she played with her cousins, or climbed trees. Medical care for her was, either doctors that were or were not available in their village if they could afford it, if the doctors were there, or herbal medicines grown and made at home. She stated that back then in El Salvador, there was no such thing as segregation or discrimination, nevertheless if there was, she never witnessed it. There were no gangs, or rivalries, although their only problem had to do with surviving and protecting their families. Once she grew up a bit more, she already changed and began her life being a single mother, with one child, and a very mature personality. She also saw changes in the world as well. She spoke of there being more wars and violence, yet that change was bound to happen, even though she thought it was a horrible change in part of the world. Still, she then claimed she was introduced to God, she learned to deal with things, and she was completely content with living with just her son and she felt content. She then told the story about when she finally arrived in America, because of wars back in her country, and didn’t really have a new, different perspective on her goals. She planned to work for her family and help them survive, hoping they had at least part of an easier life. She never contemplated the idea of being a resident of a community, but she states that God had given her the opportunity to become a US citizen and move around safely and freely. She is thankful, but was little blue on the subject that people do suffer. When undocumented, her life has been always unsafe and stated that people out there have it worse, she is thankful for what she has been granted and that her American Dream wasn’t so much as American, but as everybody’s dream everywhere who want to be free and keep safe from the harmful change this world can bring. It was and is always about change.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.