Research Paper about Overcoming the Challenges of the American Dream

The American Dream it’s something embedded in American culture, the dream that provides opportunities to the ones that pursue it and does not discriminate who you are or what background you come from. A dream that is sought out by many that migrate to this country in hopes of having a better opportunity than they did in their home country.  According to Susan B. Neuman’s article, after her 10-year research that she conducted in two different neighborhoods, she finds out that children that grow up in low-income neighborhoods are less likely to succeed and attain the American Dream. From the limited selection of books to the lack of adult support, she believes that children from low-income families have too many disadvantages to overcome compared to wealthier families. While Sara E. Keene’s article comes from her own personal experience, she tells us about her journey in the education system. How every course in community college was dumbed down and how she was demotivated by this system that instead of helping the students, was hurting them. Although Neuman’s and Keene’s articles show how the education system is flawed and, in many ways, hurts achieving the American dream, their views seem to be skewed. They portray less privileged kids as helpless while the American Dream is still being achieved by less privileged students to this day. My purpose is to provide research that shows that even low-income or underprivileged students can still achieve the American Dream through personal responsibility, perseverance, and dedication. 

It is a known fact that there are many flaws and disadvantages in our education system, according to Neuman’s article “The American Dream Slipping Away” she believes that these disadvantages begin in early childhood, especially between children from underprivileged families. While the author believes that the “American Dream” towards success still exists, it has become far more difficult for many to accomplish. She shows her research as proof that at an early age less privileged children are often victims of lack of opportunities and available resources. This makes it far more difficult for less privileged children to receive quality knowledge as she mentions in her article “although the have-nots gain knowledge, the haves gain it faster”.  Neuman explains how the differences in adult support can have a big impact on a child’s upbringing. While Neuman’s research does show the clear disadvantages in poor neighborhoods for children, it brings to question why her research did not show the other side that has achieved success in education and has overcome the obstacles that she mentions.

Keene’s article “American Dream:  Why the Status Quo Won’t Get Us There”, it’s displayed how the community colleges’ remedial and dumbed-down courses hurt students’ ability to think. Showing us the ugly truth about remedial courses, she explains why we should challenge students to think “critically, innovatively and imaginatively”.  Keen believes that “higher education must prepare people not just for work, but for lives filled with more intellectually demanding challenges generally”. She saw a transformation in students that were minorities and low-income families, the more they were challenged the more they demanded from their education. As Keen mentioned, Community colleges and other higher education platforms should prepare students for a brighter future with a good and challenging education, not dumbed down courses that in the long run will become victims to and hurt their ability to achieve the American dream.

Neuman’s research has some very challenging perspectives. Schools should be a safety net for students who lack resources but that doesn’t seem to always be the case. Her article emphasizes the need for children from low-income families to have the same opportunities as wealthier ones. One of Neuman’s key points is the disadvantages that children have from the lack of resources have a big impact on learning and create a knowledge gap. She calls to “Un-level the playing field”, stating that to fix this problem we have to help low-income communities more since the wealthy families already start with an advantage. Similarly, Keen states how long income families have very few opportunities when it comes to school choice, ending up joining incompetent schools. Where students are given remedial classes and dumbed courses that hurt their potential. Both Neuman and Keen identify how low-income communities are victims and have a harder time achieving the American Dream. To believe Keen and Neuman’s arguments we would have to admit that the American Dream is something that is no longer achievable and that is not the case.

From a personal perspective, About Keens and Neuman’s arguments, their belief that the American Dream and Education are nearly impossible because of the difficulty or issues found is not reliable. In this country, many people migrate from less fortunate parts of the world to achieve their dreams here. To tell them that just because they are from a low-income background, they will not be able to achieve the American Dream is doing a disservice to them by crushing the hopes they had to achieve it. We are a nation that is a firm believer that education is a pathway to become successful, but we also are a nation that believes in personal responsibility. From my point of view, achieving the American Dream is everyone’s responsibility, and just because there are some disadvantages along the way it does not mean it is not attainable. The authors overanalyze the problems in the education system to give people that are not successful a pass for their shortcomings instead of holding them accountable.  

Larry Ellison, the founder of the software company Oracle, was born in 1977 in the Lower East Side of New York during World War 2, at a time when the district was poor. His 19-year-old single mother sent him to live with his aunt at only 9 months old, who ended up adopting him. Later, in 1962 he went to the University of Illinois but dropped out because of his aunt’s death and took a 2-year break. Although he had a close relationship with his aunt, he had a bad one with his uncle, who told him he would never amount to anything on many occasions. It was only until 1966 that he attended the University of Chicago. After graduating he worked for several years as a computer programmer for many companies. Ellison succeeded in many areas of his career, even ending up building databases for the CIA. Eventually, he and his coworker ended up leaving their current companies to create their own brand-new product, Oracle version 2.0. Now Ellison’s work is used by many companies around the world. According to Wall Street Journal, he was the highest-paid executive in the US in 2014. I believe Ellison’s life and achievements are a clear and inspirational example that shows us that even if you are born into a poor family, with the lack of opportunities and resources, you are still able to acquire the American Dream and Education that everybody dreams of.

In conclusion, while reading Ellison’s rags to riches story, it’s shown how perseverance can help you succeed and flourish in your pursuit of your American Dream. He said it himself, “I had all the disadvantages necessary for success.” Meaning that growing up poor challenged him to try to succeed and leave the life that he had behind. The challenges he had to overcome as a child, with pneumonia and living with adoptive parents after he had been given up by his mother did not stop him from reaching his dreams. He used that as fuel to push him harder to become the person he is today. With his amazing story of success, it comes a massive amount of inspiration. And dreams that some people once thought were unachievable, became achievable again after learning where he came from and how he overcame all those obstacles. This story shows us how we can use our own disadvantages as fuel to never stop trying to achieve our dreams. Through personal responsibility, if we have discipline, perseverance, and have a clear goal, we can obtain the American Dream everybody seeks.