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| The American Dream: that phrase
alone has sent thousands upon thousands to endure hardships, spend life
savings, and endanger their lives.
Immigrants from across the globe seek to establish their own American
Dream, but what about those who were born the America? What is their dream?
Born in Seoul,
Korea, both my parents
grew-up listening to the lustrous tales of the great, fabled America
and the American Dream. Once finishing
college, they moved to the States in hopes of living the dream dreamt by
many. Marriage, children, and the
success of the children were three parts of their American dream and two thirds
of the dream was completed as they married and had two children. In their
minds, the only remaining part was the most important of the three; they dreamt
of watching their children become financially and socially successful. No, to
excel, exceeding even the dominating and advantageous whites of the world.
As a natural born citizen, I was not hindered by the challenges my parents had faced to br in my position. Without the intense yearning to be a US
citizen, my American Dream was already grandiose in comparison to the hopes of
immigrants. All throughout my life, my
parents took every possible step to ensure that I would be able to successfully
compete in this competitive world. I was
taught math, grammar, and also the importance of study, respect, and
determination. With a solid foundation
based upon the dreams of my parents, I am poised to climb the rungs of the
ladder to success. I am ready to race up
to the top, to become the basis for the dreams of immigrants and their
children. My dream, along with the rest
of the world’s, was to attend a top tier college, to graduate, to become a surgeon,
to gain affluence, and to be respected.
However, during the past few years,
I have come to appreciate what my parents had sacrificed for me. Even when their dreams could have been
fulfilled and even exceeded, they chose not to.
Instead, they chose to buttress my own dreams, with disregard for even
their own needs. Many a time they would
not eat at a restaurant when my brother and I did, saving the money to pay for
our tuition. Their entire existence had
become to serve their children, and for that I am forever in their debt. No sum of money can ever repay such a
deed. That is why my American Dream has
seen a drastic change. It is no longer
to become only wealthy and socially powerful.
It is firstly to become the perfect son, a son who knows respect,
servitude obedience, and gratefulness.
My dream is to help support my parents in their old age, to make their
lives more bearable, interesting and exciting.
It is to help them surpass their American Dream to an extent that they
had thought was not possible for their generation. My dream is to give back what I was
given. This is a dream that is truly
American. | | |
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i have a lot of regrets. only now, when its all over do i realize
what would have made all the difference in my life, my high school
experience. I should have tried harder in one thing. For
the last three years, i have split myself and my energies into two
conflicting worlds. One half was immersed in a universe known as
academia. the other, in the land of fun and games. So i
was, in a sense, a jack of all trades, but a master of none. i
was kidding myself. I took the lies of older friends and
stereotypes literally. I really thought that i could screw around
and still get good grades. I thought i could be lazy and still
have teachers love me. I thought i could study and still have an
active social life. I thought i could be in the top ten and still
have time to watch movies on the weekends and have bbq's with friends.
i regret my naivete.
i should have put all my energies into one half of life. Am i
going to be a nerd and get into a good school to become a sucessful
doctor and be filthy rich? or am i going to be the traditional white
boy, and go to parties, hang out with friends, and what the hell, even
go out on dates? But that decision was made when i was born. i am
brought up in a fashion where being best in ALL fields is
demanded. I was brought up so i would be superior to all others
in everything i did. so i was given piano lessons at the age of
4. i was forced to play soccer at 5, baseball 5, taken to tutors
at 11, forced into boyscouts at 12, and so forth. I was raised
with the constant chant, be the best, or forever go unnoticed in
america, the white man's world. As a korean american, how would i
suceed? White people will do their best to ignore me, poke fun of
me, and if possible degrade me. How do i become sucessful in such
an enviorment? BE THE BEST
with that life motto deeply engrained into my entire body and soul, i
naturally tried to be socially active and still be academically
powerful. There is a korean folk tale of a tiger who tried to
chase three rabbits. He would try to catch all of them at once
and he failed. When he went after one, he would suddenly try to
grab another that he thought was closer. in the end, this tiger
caught nothing and died. This is me. I tried to grab more
than i could hold and now i pay. Im a loser. Not recognized
by teachers as their best student, when i could easily have been.
Not recognized by the students as the "cool" kid, when im sure i could
have been if i tried. did i ever get ranked in the top ten?
no. Did i ever kiss another girl? no. Truly, im a loser
but just because i regret trying to suceed in two opposite worlds does
not mean that i would want to redo it. Although i may have been
unsucessful in my attempt for domination, i have made friends in this
dillema that i am thankful for. I dont want to relive my
highschool life because there is a chance that i would have never met
some of the tightest and closest of my friends.
First, there are the assorted asian seniors i hang out with. THey
know where im coming from and they too understand my situation.
they are cool and helpful to talk to. and of course, extremely fun to
be around. but the person who has made the greatest impression im
my high school career has to be Trilo Kidambi. He is the
man. He is my role model and mentor. He has done what i had
set out to do, but instead of failing as i had, he has suceeded.
If i could, i would not mind being him. I would be doubly screwed
if it were not for his constant advice and support. because of
him, i still have faith and its my wish that i can culture this faith
and raise it into sucess. then hopefully i can later be
documented as a sucess story wheni work at a practice with him in the
future. trilo is one person i know i will keep in touch after
high school. the asians too, of course, but more definately trilo.
| | |
| the problem with today's affiars is loyalty over accountability.
Torture advocate Alberto Gonzales becomes Attorney-General.
Condeleezza Rice, who misled us into war is promoted to Secretary of
State. George Tenet, who built the false case for war, is given a
medal of freedom as is Paul Bemer, who bungled the iraqi
occupation. With the government, screwing up is a career move
taken from Doonesbury
| | |
| "Maturity has by now been banished from nearly every aspect of our
lives. Easy divorce laws have removed the need to work
relationships; easy credit has removed the need for fiscal
self-control; easy entertainment has removed the need to learn to
entertain oneself; easy answers have removed the need to ask
questions. We have become a nation of children, happy to
surrender our judgments and our wills to political exhortations and
commercial blandishments that would insult actual adults. We buy
televisions, and then we buy the things we see on the television.
We buy computers, and then we buy the things we see on the
computer. We buy $150 sneakers whether we need them or not, and
when they fall apart too soon we buy another pair. We drive SUVs
and believe the lie that hey constitute a kind of life insurance, even
when we're upside-down in them. And, worst of all, we don't bat
an ete when Ari Fleischer tells us to "be careful what you say," eve if
we remeber having been told somewhere back in school that America is
the land of the free. We simply buy that one too. Our
schooling, as intended, has seen to it."
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