My American Dream: A Cultural Analysis
My family lineage in the United States can be traced all the way back to William Newsom III, a major supporter of Shay’s Rebellion, and citizen of Jamestown in the 1600’s. This picture was taken at Newsom’s Mill, a historic site established by my ancestors in Tennessee. I believe that this image is a strong representation of my culture because although my grandparents each have a unique family lineage, making me part Czech, Norwegian., Swedish, English and even African, I was raised with American culture and values in mind, and have always identified with the land I grew up in. Perhaps this is why I buy into the idea of the American dream, and believe that with hard work and opportunity, the success I seek is possible. It has also influenced
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Those previous environments, dominated by rich families, made me feel as though I was an outcast, when in fact, in global context, I have more social privilege than I knew. Here, I am in classes filled with students from other countries, and many different religions. Never before have I been surrounded by so much diversity, and been able to recognize the reality of my position as a middle-class, white, Christian citizen of America. Although I am a woman, and feel the inferiority complex of women below men every day, I recognize how much those other factors play into the way I am treated everywhere I go. The strongly skewed environments I grew up in influenced the way I saw myself and my family, and created a strong sense of self-awareness within …show more content…
Next year, I hope to be studying in a BFA Acting program at a great university, and on my way to becoming the confident, well-informed member of society I aspire to be. The desire to not give up until I get what I want in terms of a college has driven all my choices for the past year, including both my decision to take classes at a community college, and the strong drive to receive good grades in order to potentially be accepted into those theatre programs. As mentioned before, both my history and culture, and social location influenced the value I place on receiving a degree from a university. This value drives me to make daily contributions towards that goal, by putting my schoolwork first, and doing things I struggled with in the past, such as seeking and accepting help from
Those previous environments, dominated by rich families, made me feel as though I was an outcast, when in fact, in global context, I have more social privilege than I knew. Here, I am in classes filled with students from other countries, and many different religions. Never before have I been surrounded by so much diversity, and been able to recognize the reality of my position as a middle-class, white, Christian citizen of America. Although I am a woman, and feel the inferiority complex of women below men every day, I recognize how much those other factors play into the way I am treated everywhere I go. The strongly skewed environments I grew up in influenced the way I saw myself and my family, and created a strong sense of self-awareness within …show more content…
Next year, I hope to be studying in a BFA Acting program at a great university, and on my way to becoming the confident, well-informed member of society I aspire to be. The desire to not give up until I get what I want in terms of a college has driven all my choices for the past year, including both my decision to take classes at a community college, and the strong drive to receive good grades in order to potentially be accepted into those theatre programs. As mentioned before, both my history and culture, and social location influenced the value I place on receiving a degree from a university. This value drives me to make daily contributions towards that goal, by putting my schoolwork first, and doing things I struggled with in the past, such as seeking and accepting help from