Exemplification Essay: Improving The American Dream

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With tears rolling down her cheeks, Chi Quach took a deep breath before stepping foot on American soil for the first time. She had escaped the communists in Vietnam. “I finally reached the land of the prosperous. I will be able to give my children the lives and opportunities they would have never had in Vietnam,” Mrs. Quach recalled. With the surge of refugees fleeing Vietnam, immigrant stories were prevalent in the 1980s. Many arrived in the US with their families, eager to start anew. “The American Dream means that I have the chance to improve my life through hard work and education in order to provide food, shelter, and a good education for my family,” said Mrs. Quach. “I arrived here with nothing. I forced myself to go to school and …show more content…

If you give up on yourself, you give up on your dreams,” Ms. Yeung said. Ms. Yeung, 30, said that she had to move over 400 miles from San Francisco to Santa Ana just to work part time in 2007. Her situation was about to change soon. According to Rakesh Kochhar, Pew Research’s associate director, the health industry began to create more jobs during the recession, hiring over 400,000 new employees in 2009. More jobs have been added ever since. After working in Santa Ana for a year and a half, Ms. Yeung secured a full-time nursing position at Stanford Medical Center, which paid her even more and allowed her to live with her family again. “The American Dream is having the opportunity to find a career that allows for retirement at a reasonable age in comfort and a robust and fulfilling life,” Ms. Yeung said. Ms. Yeung said that she is quite optimistic for the future because more jobs are being created. Opportunity is out there for those who are willing to fight for it. Even during times of economic hardship, about 20 percent of adults reported that their financials are even better than before according to a Pew Research survey. Becky Vo, an independent business owner is a prime example of

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