Personal Narrative: My Pursuit Of The American Dream

Improved Essays
There is no price to pay for happiness
I used to believe I had to work hard and obey the rules to achieve the American Dream. A few years ago, I was promoted to chief executive officer of a company after several years of employment and schooling. I worked over sixty hours a week, I was sleep deprived, and I didn 't spend much time on leisure. Despite that, I had a high ranking position, owned an enormous house, drove a luxury car, and I couldn 't wait for the two weeks of vacation I took every year. Working hard all year gave me some time for pleasure and relaxation. However, today, sitting on the beach of the mesmerizingly beautiful cove, Maya Bay, I know differently. Happiness isn 't a state of being to be attained in the future, but rather
…show more content…
I spent the first few days of my vacation lying on the beach, relaxing after a year of hard work. Even if for the time being, that was my slice of paradise. I started exploring the island and mingled with the locals. Astonished by the way people lived their everyday lives, I asked them questions, “How is a typical day for you?”, and “How do you make money?” I was eager to get to know them better. It seemed there was much less off the extravagant lifestyle I was used to back home, nevertheless everyone had a stress-free smile on their face. I started to feel a change in my views, but even then, could never imagine myself living without the comforts of home. The switch in my perspective on life came after I signed up for a day tour to Maya Bay on the Shangri-la …show more content…
He was a very easy-going man, who spent his days working as a tour guide and a sailor. After moving down to Phi Phi from England five years ago, he bought his yacht, and opened his own business. During high season he took tourists on trips to the surrounding islands, and the rest of the year he traveled to Indonesia, Malaysia, and other countries with his crew. He had a deep passion for traveling and discovering new places; I envied the freedom he described. “Day after day, I hear tourists complaining about the fact that they don’t want their vacation to end, to have to go back to the hamster wheel. I consider myself to be a successful man, to live a life others only get to experience for a short while” he told me thoughtfully. Those words stayed with me for a long time, and I couldn 't shake the thought even after I got off the boat and walked back to my

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Chasing My Dreams I have achieved many of my goals in life and I am so proud to say that I have reached them, these include graduating high school and getting a nice car, however I have many more dreams and goals to tackle before my hourglass runs out of sand. I plan to travel, I want to go as far as I can and to as many places as possible with a few major places that are a must. I want to have a plantation style house completely done in eighteenth century décor, hopefully I will be able to buy the Briggs-Washington estate in Camden, Alabama. Finally I want to use my gifts and passions to spread happiness to other people.…

    • 714 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They say the goal in life is to live the “American Dream” and I would say I am living it head first. It all started when the time in my life came to pick an Univeristy to attend, and boy am I ecstatic with my decision to attend West Virginia University. WVU opened so many doors for me; however, if it was not for my family, I would not be where I am today. I was very content with going to my local University and living at home because that was comfortable to me, but my family encourged me to find a new start.…

    • 418 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As an eighteen year old it’s sometimes hard to think about your life time goals, especially when your life has only begun. But you can dream and strive to achieve the most drastic of lifetime goals. My lifetime goal is to become a successful forensic anthropologist maintaining my connection to music that I currently have. For the past seven years of my life I have been a part of an intense band program while maintaining an AB academic average and that experience, along with my academic experience of taking advanced courses all while staying in touch with the musical side of the world, is what’s going to help me achieve this lifetime goal. Being a part of a rigorous band program where success is all that we strive toward, all the while maintaining suitable grades in my advanced classes is what’s going to give me the foundation to start my life on.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Body crouched, holding on to a miniature blanket are the memories that cannot be eased from my head. Low temperature is a constant reminder of my harsh times as a homeless child with not a thing to loose, only an empty stomach behind. Thinking that crossing over would be the most difficult challenge of the “American Dream”. My parents did not come prepared for the far more challenges to come.…

    • 152 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When I started my high school, I often times stumbled upon people with different belief and experiences, but there is one particular incident that will always astonish and startles me. It was my junior year in Trinity High School, I was excited to start a new year in high school. The excitement of being an upper class was infused in my heart and my mind. As far as I can recall it, I met a colleague of in my theater class. He seemed to be amazed and surprised by everything around him.…

    • 520 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To be an American is to be able to choose freely. Acts of terror seem to be more and more common, according to the media. In times of terror and strife the citizens of the United States of America come together no matter what beliefs and opinions we have to defeat the opposition. Secondly, America was built on immigrants, and as such we are open to diverse races and beliefs, and Americans consider people they have just met as friends. This is what I believe is my American Identity.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The American dream wasn’t how it was described. Coming to America was overwhelming especially coming from a country where school is the only hope in life, went from being told there 's literally money growing on trees to staying in shelters was a disappointment but let 's start from the beginning. People say it’s hard to remember your young childhood but at five years old I, I remembered everything starting when I lived in Egypt with a single mom that had no family around in another foreign country to rise four children on her own not having a job living in a rundown one room apartment with five people, and two bed’s. I remember it like it was yesterday seeing my mom sitting in the living room on the cut up, scratched red brownish sofa…

    • 1565 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My American Dream For centuries, people from different countries have started to migrate to the United States for a better life. This mission of being successful is known for being an American Dream. The American Dream is basically someone who is trying their hardest to become successful in life. Those who come to the United States tend to work the hardest so they can support themselves, their family, and to be happy. For example, someone who worked very hard to support their family and be successful was Notorious B.I.G.…

    • 632 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    My parents emigrated to this country thirty-four years ago from Mexico. My father had a grade school education and my mother had a middle school education. They had a deep desire to improve their lives, and having that American dream everybody talks about. The American dream they had in mind was giving their children what they couldn’t have, due to the lack of funds. Due to their limited English and lack of education the only available work was low paying manual labor.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Connections Essay Horatio Alger’s American dream is the idea that in the United States of America, if a person wants something, they can make it happen. It’s the attitude that no-one or nothing can hold a person back from their personal dreams. Regardless of race, religion, background or sex, this dream can be reached. If you want to start a company, you have to work hard to get there. This alone is why thousands immigrate to the US every year to live a life of freedom with endless opportunities.…

    • 1584 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Not everyone can say they carry a map of where they live wherever they go. This is one of the few perks that come with residing in the Mitten State: I can whip out my hand anytime and point to exactly where I’m from. For the past eighteen years, I’ve built a life in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a conservative, affluent community where everything seems perfect. For eighteen years, I’ve covered imperfections, censored thoughts, and allowed my light to be dulled. I may not have lived anywhere else yet, but the real-world is out there waiting -- and I’m ready for it.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    America’s Gift to My Generation would be education and schooling. Education and schooling is a gift because with children going through school only a few will become our next inventors and scientists. The education will help make our medical teams and technology better than it has ever been before. The schooling is based on how well students work in a classroom because I know I work better at a public school then being home schooled. But for one of my friends it’s the opposite.…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What did you dream to be when you were young? In the seventies the American Dream was drastically different from ours today, especially for women. During this time period is when a lot of women's equal rights and independence movements were going on. Originally, In high school my mom had a dream to live in a big house and have a lot of children. But over time she was sucked into the mainstream movement, put her original dream on hold, and decided to be part of this movement.…

    • 559 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I was born in the United States of America to parents who were born abroad eight years after their nuptials. Born in Kings, Brooklyn I moved to Port-au-Prince, Haiti as an infant with my parents and three siblings. In Haiti, my father stood as a sentinel retired with Forces Armèes d’Haiti and Police Nationale d’Haiti, and my mother employed, as a National Airport Supervisor Safety Authority of Operations at International Airport Toussaint Louverture. Studying French in Mikaline Kindergarten located at 6 Bois Verna, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Lilliput Kindergarten located at 7 Bis, Bois –Patate, Canapé-Vert then allowed me to engage with the world around me. Subsequently, I learned English at New American School located at Jean Paul II, No. 127 Turgeau, Port-au-Prince, Haiti in close proximity to my brothers at Collège Canado-Haïtien and my sister at Collège Saint Francois D’Assise.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Growing up only knowing the idea of the apple-pie life as a distant thing, I have been told to pursue the American dream, to relentlessly chase my goals all throughout my life; make something of myself as others have not with only an inkling of a concept. As if I was supposed to naturally observe and absorb it from everything that had and would surround me. In seventh grade during a discussion, asking even what the American dream was earned quiet gasps and horrified stares from those who now saw me as something less. Stuttering yet indignant, those surrounding me were trying fruitlessly to explain to me a concept only instilled with me as idealization and never anything concrete. Even after the discussion moved on, a sour taste in my mouth…

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays