By Stephanie Wang – 11th Grade, Peters Township High School

When my parents came to America from China over twenty years ago, there’s no doubt that they were thinking of the American Dream. Perhaps they weren’t dreaming of streets lined with gold, but they did believe that America was the land of opportunities—a place of new beginnings and a land of freedom. Today, the American Dream is still the same. You’re given the opportunity of a fresh start, of achieving success and wealth. It doesn’t matter where you came from—you could be a poor farmer from Ireland—and in America, you have the chance to turn it all around and create a better future for you and your children. It’s the classic rags-to-riches story, but in America, it isn’t a total fairytale. My parents both came from poor families, and today in America, my mom is a manager at Highmark while my dad is a software engineer at ANYSYS. Today, we have access to technology and resources that my parents could never dream of having at China. So, yes, maybe the American Dream is often seen as an unrealistic, idealistic figment of imagination, but for me and my family, as well as a countless other families, this “fairytale” has come true.

 Stephanie Wang, a rising junior at Peters Township High School, is an avid writer and food enthusiast. Her writing has been featured on The Almanac’s Youth Page, and she is currently the editor of Business Funnel.