United by our Differences

I interviewed people in my community and asked them what the American Dream means to them. I got a wide variety of answers that mentioned the economic opportunities, freedom and rights, and even that the American Dream is a way of life.

By Maddie Harrod from Avondale High School in Michigan

American Creed is different for everyone.  America is full of people who look differently, live differently, are from all over the world, worship differently, speak different languages, and more.  But at the end of the day, we are all the same.  We are all American.  We are all human.  We're just trying our best to find happiness and purpose.  America offers so many opportunities to achieve whatever your American Dream is and you can be whoever you want to be as long as you work hard.  This country has it's flaws, but it is a beacon of hope to people around the world for democracy, freedom, and dreams come true. 

Avondale High School

Avondale High School

Avondale High School is in Oakland County, in Southeast Michigan.

My American Creed: Living with the Discussion of a "Dream," but Never Seeing it Realized

The repercussions of a teen who realizes everything she was told about America is far from the truth. Its sounds slightly dramatic, sure, but becoming more aware of the social constructs in this country continues to surprise me.

A Not So American, American Creed

Through my parents' naturalization ceremony to become U.S. citizens, I was able to learn a lot about what it means to be an American citizen and what must be done to protect and uphold such a right.

American Dream within the American Creed

The American Dream, is implemented by the American Creed, what it means to be American.

Who I Really Am

A poem about my American Creed, told in the stories of my grandparents.

My Family of Immigrants

Look into my Family History. See my American Creed.

American Creed

My video talks about (and visually demonstrates) the false notations and divisions emulated in America specifically through American Creed.

Entre Dos Mundos

A recount of my own family history, alternating between English and Spanish representing what it's like to be Between Two Worlds.

How the American Creed has Affected my Family.

My grandparents came from Russia in search of a better life for their family. They came to America to achieve freedom and follow the American Dream. Throughout their experience they have developed their own American Creed and now I have started to develop one as well.

The Creed with Many Scars

The American Creed has many wounds and scars left on it from the years it has existed, yet we still agitate these scars for our own selfish desires.

Now That I'm Older

A reflection on how my American creed has developed over the last few years.

When I Think of Home

The American Creed is not always as equally attainable as it may seem.

What is the American Creed?

Everyone's idea of the American Creed is different. This piece discusses my personal opinions on what I believe America stands for and how we can set aside our differences and truly symbolize the ideologies that many believe America stands for.

A Divided America

America is divided but an American Creed is something to help unify us.

America Is

America is many things. Some of which are good, and some are not. This piece elaborates on a few of the words that represent America from all perspectives.

Who am I ?

My piece is about how where my parents came from, and the difference in culture has impacted my view of the American creed

Expressing your American Creed

This piece is about how you can express your American Creed. It shows the many aspects to American creed, such as why people chase their American, the fact that everyone chases one, and the three major aspects to American Creed.

Whose America? Who's America?

My poem is about my understanding and, my experience in America vs. how a minority might experience it.

What is My Identity and What are My Concerns?

How I address what my identity is and what my concerns are, as well as how they are connected to my American Creed.

American Creed Through Action

What my American Creed is, and how I live my life based on my that creed of never forgetting my true culture and loving with a heart bigger than my own.

How Does Your Family and Community History Connect to Your American Creed?

This is how my family and community history connect to my American Creed:

Actions Speak Louder Then

This is a poem about the actions I can take to express my American Creed

"Land of Opportunity," They Say...

A poem describing my own American creed as a first generation American.

One Step Closer

As a second generation Indian immigrant in America, the push and pull of cultures has both defined and created conflict in my identity. My American Creed is about accepting all parts of myself and expanding that idea of celebrating diversity to the larger society.

Almost Losing My Best Friend

I found out my beloved Grandmother had cancer. It destroyed me, but a new person grew, one who's more loving and conscious of every moment.

First Generation

How does your family & community history connect to your American creed?

My American Creed

This is about what I personally believe my American Creed is made up of, and why it makes me who I am.

American Dream

The American Creed is something that people all over the country hold near and dear to their heart, and like the American Dream, each person has a wildly different definition of it. This paper analyzes the connection between the American Creed and the American Dream.

Canadian/American Dream

An interview with my Grandfather who grew up in Italy during World War II, and moved to Canada when he was 18 to live the "American Dream", but in Canada, and his views on how the Ideals and Creeds of western nations have changed since he came over.

What Is Your American Creed?

I discuss my personal American Creed and how the position I have been born into has affected that outlook

The Word Racism

Defining the word racism, and its impact on how people view the American Creed.

More responses from Michigan

Surprise Me

My American Creed: Living with the Discussion of a "Dream," but Never Seeing it Realized

The repercussions of a teen who realizes everything she was told about America is far from the truth. Its sounds slightly dramatic, sure, but becoming more aware of the social constructs in this country continues to surprise me.

What is the American Dream?

In this project, we interviewed 3 different age groups to see each age groups perception of the American Dream, and how it related to other age groups.

The Creed

My piece is about many different topics about the American Creed. First, I talk about the history and how the American Creed was created. Then, I talk about American. Finally, I state my personal opinion about America and how I feel about being an American.

American Resilience and Progress

Americans are resilient and we know that failure is never an option, and we have known this throughout the entire history of our country.

American Expectations Vs. Reality

What the American creed expectations are and how everyone else should see them is way different then what it actually is.

Equality For All

Equality is arguably the most important American Creed, in this piece you will read about events that either represent equality or fail to.

American Creed: Cultural tradition and immigration

Do you have many different cultural traditions that your family may have brought over to America that are very important to you? Join me in learning how cultural tradition and immigration plays a role in elements of diverse Americans' identity

Supporting America

A major part of being American is that you don't have to support America. In fact, this helps the country grow and change.

Immigration Stories

These immigration stories are supposed to see the point of view of immigrants. It's supposed to help you understand their struggles.

Immigrants and their Role in the American Creed

The United States has been called a "country of immigrants." Immigrants play a major role in our life as Americans and they have shaped our country over the past hundreds of years.

What Is Your American Creed?

I discuss my personal American Creed and how the position I have been born into has affected that outlook

How Being A First Generation Can Affect Views on What it Means to be an American

An examination on the similarities of how children of immigrants view their privileges and what it means to be an American.

More responses about "creed", "diversity", "dream", and "freedom"

Surprise Me

A Diverse Perspective on the American Creed

Analysis of the American Creed from the eyes of diverse Americans, and how they involve the American Creed within their lives.

America's Foundation

To learn about the American Creed, we made a Photoshop masking project. This project has taught me a lot about the land I live in. I chose this image because it symbolizes the foundations of our country.

Freedom and Its Three Tenets: Faith, Family, and Community

Freedom is the underlying idea of the American creed. Conceptually, there are three tenets that comprise my creed: faith, family, and community. As a digital memoir, I will explore how these three pillars have affected my life now and forever.

American Creed

My essay was about the perspectives of being an American from the eyes of Terrence Davenport. His views on struggle and unity, in my essay I write about how hearing his perspective on what it means to be American, and how it affected my views on struggle, ingenuity, and unity.

What Makes me American

Being American to me is about using my freedom.I can use my freedom to do service to my community.I can use my freedom to do many other fun things.Using my freedom is what makes me American.

American Creed Argument

Your past doesn't matter as long as you focus on the future and what's in front of you. Equal opportunity is an important American value that people want.

Freedom is Happiness

A collage of pictures summarizing my ideals of freedom and what I believe it means to be free. Descriptions for each picture are also included.

American Creed Essay

Not everyone have same perspective on American Dream and American Creed. That is why this essay will talk about different perspectives some people may have on the American Creed based on "American Creed" film.

The Language Of Music

This is a video about how music is a ritual which expresses the American Creed.

What Does it Mean to be American?

To be an American means to be united. We were named the United States of America, so Americans can come together to solve problems and to help this country thrive. Not to become separated over issues that Republicans and Democrats can't agree on.

My American Creed

My American Creed is to defend my family and friends.

It Doesn't Matter Where You Came From

I chose this project because I wanted to further my understanding of all perspectives of what people expect from U.S and how diversity impacts the way people see U.S.I was able to relate the interviews back to myself and my own community by thinking about my own American Creed.

What Does It Mean To Be American?

Being American means that you have freedom to do whatever you believe in. In America you can express how you feel about any topic and you won’t get punished for it. For example, in some countries if you talk bad about the leader, then it’s possible that you would get executed immediately.

The Future of America

What is your dream? How do you plan to achieve your dream? Do you believe your dream aligns with the American dream?

American Creed

The picture I drew illustrates what an American may look like and where they are from or where they are heading. It also illustrates opportunities and the chance to be whatever you want to be and to go wherever you want to go.

True Vision

This is some of my thoughts about my American reality and how I feel about the the concept of the freedom in American.

My American Creed

Being an individual that is quite diverse, I have been profoundly influenced by my parents' experiences.

Diversity and Tolerance in America

Diversity is debated in America. This essay shows the validity of those who support and don't support diversity, and how diversity creates tolerance.

The Reamble

My piece is a black out poem with the Preamble of the constitution.

American Dream

This article is about the American dream and how to get there.

I AM AMERICAN

My project is a poem about my American creed and being American. Being American is about having opportunity, freedom, and a chance at new life.

American Culture and Values

Home of the Free Land of the Immigrants

My piece discusses the anti-migrant stigma that has re-developed in America.

Immigrating Creeds

I discuss how my parent's influence with immigrating to America has influenced their American Creeds and how that influenced mine as well.

Writing Our Future: American Creed is part of the National Writing Project’s family of youth publishing projects, all gathered under the Writing Our Future initiative.

Writing Our Future projects are designed by educators for educators and the young people they work with. Intended for use in schools, libraries, and other educational settings. All projects are COPPA compliant and educator-managed. NWP is committed to supporting young people’s writing and civic participation by providing a safe and supportive environment for youth writing, media creation, sharing, and publishing.