The American Dream and as a new generation the daily struggle with “How To Make It In America”

“The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which

Freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success,

and an upward social mobility achieved through hard work.”

-Wikipedia, “American Dream”

My personal view: For me, it took me following all the things I was “supposed” to do in school and stepping into the real work to realize that The American Dream Is becoming The American Nightmare. I went to college twice over, got a job not in my field of study which was Marketing Communications; making a decent amount of money analyzing numbers…fab! Not so much! I’m not doing what I love or even what I like. Is the American Dream to work for money instead of doing what you love and making the money work for you?

 Then I went out and got a part-time job, which I noticed is a very popular thing with our generation. One just isn’t good enough anymore, we all have a side hustle…is that our American Dream??? I got the second job after I purchased a condo and I wanted to maintain the same lifestyle I had prior to owning a little piece of the American Dream. I wanted to be able to pay all my bills on the due date and put some money aside for emergencies.  Also save for the future…an unforeseen future because that you’re your elders, newspaper/ books and the people on the television tell you, you should do. However the paycheck from the second job was for me, this spare money that was for me to shop, dine out, party and vacation. It’s my play, play money to do whatever I want.  Although I have some spare cash does that make me full-filled and happy…NO! In my eyes it’s just a job, just like my 9-5.

I fought with myself many a days debating with the FACT that I wasn’t doing what makes me happy. Then I had to pose the question what makes me happy? O that was easy…kinda. I love creativity, I love brainstorming, I love putting a concept or idea together and constructing it from beginning to end. That was me, I live in color. I know I should have worked in advertising but when I graduated college I found that the ability to get into that field was unobtainable. Companies wanted experience in entry level positions. How can I gain experience if no one will give me a chance? Now that I’m older and wiser I know I could have worked harder to get into that field but student loans and bills had to be paid fresh off the graduation stage. I needed a JOB! A career would have to take a back seat. I read this a lot about new graduates and it’s unfortunate that we can’t live in a world where we can all chase our own American Dream.

My question is framed perfectly in the now canceled HBO show (so upset about this btw) “How To Make It In America”? Not only was this an entertaining show but it spoke to me and many other twenty-some things. How can we be full-filled in our lives as adults and also make our mark in this country our way? What is our legacy? Will we die feeling we lived up to our greatest potential?

Historian James Truslow Adams popularized the phrase "American Dream" in his 1931 book Epic of America:

“But there has been also the American Dream, that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”