She then started working in a factory and living off food stamps. She took a huge steamship crowded with thousands of people just to make it to New York. When she was about 15, her family decided to come to America because of her country getting overrun with communists. My grandmother was originally from Lithuania and lived on a farm. I think that the American dream can happen, but only if you work hard and try to reach that goal. I watched a man battle from one of the deepest holes imaginable in order to give his children the opportunity to have a better life than he did. I witnessed the American dream first hand. To build yourself up from absolutely nothing, to grind for every last penny in order to make your dreams a reality. He has created a successful practice and makes enough money to support my family everyday. He stayed with his uncle for 3 years and eventually put himself through college and medical school. My father came to America with nothing but a pair of black pants and a white shirt. His father was liberated from Auschwitz and his mother from Bergen Belsen. My father was born in Hungary to a mother and father that were both survivors of the holocaust. I have witnessed the American dream in action. Thanks to my parents believing in the American dream I was able to become a US citizen and now live a happy life in Philadelphia. There were also instances were my parents went into debt they had decided 1 time to go back to India and they have cried many nights as well.

While settling in they were on their own to find an apartment, job, money and other necessities because they had n family or friends in California. When my parents got married and came to America all they had with them was a suitcase filled with some clothes and a picture of their family. While my mother was in college she read through so many textbooks about American doctors and watched the news late at night to learn English dreaming one day to go to America. Even though my dad had a good life growing up, in India usually the people who had a lot of money were only able to go to America. My mom, a village girl from India growing up never gave a thought to come to America because usually it was impossible. The American dream has always been the motto that has pushed my mother and father everyday of their lives. In the United States, the opportunity for a better life Masterman Secondary School in Philadelphia Northbrook, Ill. and Sarasota, Fla., - and gratitude to the classes who keep the conversation going week after week: Bryant, Ark. So a warm welcome and thank you to some of the newer classes who joined us - Chicago East View Academy Glen Ellyn, Ill.

On the day we acknowledge the one-year anniversary of the Parkland shooting, we hope that what Amira from Northbrook wrote in response to our question about family is true: вЂњI feel that as a society weвЂ™re starting to become more caring towards one another.вЂќ If only all discussions on the Internet could be like this. We loved, too, how you responded to each other, respectfully acknowledging differences and seeking out common ground. Maybe it was the questions we asked, but all of us at The Learning Network agree that you posted especially moving descriptions of your lives and experiences this time around. We know we tell you every week how much we love reading your responses to our writing prompts, but some weeks are special.

High school dreams (2005)