In 1996, when my 24-year-old mother and her family all immigrated to the United States of America, a country foreign to them, all they carried was a suitcase on their backs and a few Nairas, Nigerian currency worthless in America. Before their arrival to the States, my mother and her family became citizens, then they resided in a cramped New York studio apartment. Throughout her time in New York, my mother didn’t allow her circumstance or upbringing define her future as she worked countless minimum wage jobs that included mopping filthy stained floors of McDonalds. My mother came to the States’ with a Master’s Degree in architecture, but she wanted something bigger, a career that could change lives. After going back to the drawing board, my mother refocused her mind to becoming a …show more content…
My mother is exemplary proof of that, as it took her six years to become a self-made doctor. It also shot bulletholes in her bank account, deprived her of sleep, and of her social life. I, myself believe the American Dream is attainable, but not from slacking off or putting in half the effort, which is why the philosophy of hard work and being the best I can be is embedded into my DNA. The American Dream isn’t something that can ever be handed to you, you have to work hard and do all you can do to make something out of yourself. Many profuse icons in today’s society, such as the late Steve Jobs, weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth. Steve Jobs was adopted as a toddler and was raised with basically nothing, but he went on to build the now multi-billion dollar company of Apple from the ground up through many trial and errors and of course, hard work. As seen through the success stories like my mother and Steve Jobs, the background or current position of an individual shouldn’t prevent them from reaching the American