American Creed

American Creed

To start, what is the American Dream? The American Dream is to take advantage of all the opportunities available, and to pave a path for future generations.

Other people think the American Dream is temporary, that it only affects the now, but people like Eric Liu, a second generation American of Chinese descent, proves this claim to be incorrect. Liu’s parents migrated to the U.S. and pursued a higher level of education, which opened doors for Eric, and allowed him to live a nice stable life in the city of New York. Eric Liu was then able to achieve a high level of education and founded a non-profit organization known as Citizen University which works to educate others on what being an American means. Dierdre Prevett is another example, being a 5th generation educator of Native American ancestry, and principal of a school in Oklahoma. Deirdre Prevett’s ancestors sold their land in order to receive an education, which allowed her and her ancestors to receive an education and live a stable life. Both Liu and Prevett seem to have benefited from the sacrifices their ancestors made in order to receive an education. Education is one of the most important steps toward achieving the American Dream. The reason education is important is because it opens opportunities for people of all races, colors, and genders. No matter their background, education doesn’t discriminate against anyone. Both Eric Liu and Deidre Prevett seem to highly value education and view it as a doorway to better opportunities in life. Like Eric Liu, Diedre Prevett comes from an educated family. Both Prevett and Liu share the same passion for educating others and want to make a difference in people's lives as educators. They both strive to better the lives of people by educating them because they both believe that education was what opened doors for them and what keeps opening doors for them. These perspectives are related because both Liu and Prevett highly value and appreciate the opportunities that were opened to them through education. Seeing what they’ve been able to accomplish and where they are now, they've realized that they wouldn't be where they are if it weren't for the education they and their ancestors received, so they chose to pay it back by becoming educators themselves and helping others pave a path to a better life for them and for generations to come. Although they come from different backgrounds with one being native to America and the other being a son of immigrants, they both seem to value education the same way.

Other people think that education is just years of stress all for a certificate and recognition, but it leads to many more things if you take advantage of the opportunities that you are given. In "Living a Life with No Limitations" Zunitta Cummings is asked why she came to the U.S. for higher education schooling and goes on to say that learning English in the U.S. would open better job opportunities. In the end she was right, pursuing a higher education allowed her to become a preschool teacher, and her experience with kids allowed her to eventually start her own company. She also mentions how she eventually received her citizenship, and says "I am an American citizen and I own my own company. This is the ultimate American dream for anyone that moves to the United States." Zunitta Cummings is just one of the many examples of people who were able to reach the American Dream through the opportunities that receiving an education gave. Despite being an immigrant and a person of color Zunitta Cummings was able to reach her goal and reach her American Dream.

In a survey done by “Pew Research Center: Most Americans Believe American Dream is Within Reach” multiple people of different colors, races, ages, and genders were interviewed and asked questions about what the American dream meant to them and how they could reach it. The results of the survey showed that people with "College grad +" have the highest number of people that believe they have reached the American Dream. The category of "some college" comes in second with the highest number of people that believe they have reached the American Dream, and the category of "HS or less" comes in last with how many people have reached the American Dream. It’s incredible how education can pave paths for us and for future generations, Kamala Harris the daughter of immigrants is now 2020 vice-president-elect. Kamala’s parents both came to the U.S. to receive an education, and by doing so they didn’t just pave a path for their future generations, but also for the future of the United States. The opportunities that an education offers are unimaginable, if the right decisions are made it’ll eventually lead to the American Dream everyone searches for, which is why I believe education is essential.