Journalism 2 Class luis jennifer mason robert forrest casey caitlin sarah mason lia alexandra luis natalie

Monday, February 1, 2010

What Does It Mean to be an American Today?*

by: Alexandra

You can do whatever you like. American dream. If you like making doughnuts, you can open a doughnut shop and live happily ever after. Impractical? Extremely. But the American mentality will tell you that anything is attainable, and all you need is the willingness to work hard. I do not want to be the one to crush this dream, but in reality, it is far-fetched. But maybe that is what America is; a country of open doors, a million opportunities... Maybe that is why all of the other countries tend to think America is so bratty. We have so much opportunity it's ridiculous. Although we might feel lost and hopeless at times, we never REALLY feel the impending fear that so many who live in poverty do. A sense of security makes people lazy.

I recently decided to count all my blessing, as a way of thanking God and keeping myself from being selfish. I have since realized that I am disgustingly rich. My roommate moved out, so now I can use her closet, and I have 3 closets full of clothes. I have two beds in my dorm room and two beds in my bedroom at home. I have 4 beds that I can sleep in anytime I feel like it. I have two places to live; a dorm and a house. I have the opportunity to use makeup to make myself look "extra" good, whereas many people in other countries do not even have enough clothes. The Bible says God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or think, and I have that, much thanks to America and to God. And what did I do all of high-school? I whined that people didn't treat me the way I wanted, whined that I couldn't buy everything I wanted, whined that I wasn't pretty enough, and whined that my cellphone didn't hook up to the internet fast enough. The fact that I even spent time thinking about those things makes me a whole lot richer than a very significant percent of the world.

So what does it mean to be American? Or at least, an average American teenager?
To have much... and expect more.

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