I am proud to be an American because of the “American Dream.” The American Dream is constantly evolving, and never a static idea. For me, the dream is to go to college and get a high paying job. But it is also about being whatever you want to be. If you work hard enough, you can make your dreams a reality. Obviously this is an idealistic view; not everybody will become president, not everybody that plays football will reach the NFL, and not every musician will become famous. But in America, the ideal is possible, and there are few factors limiting people from achieving what they want. What is standing in their way is their own determination, effort, and passion--and that makes me proud to be an American.

When I was young, I wanted to be an author. That was my dream. I wrote stories and English was always my top subject. In middle school, I started to second guess that dream, telling myself I could never be an author. Maybe I won’t be an author for my career, but that’s okay. I can still realize my dream. All it takes is the determination to write every day, to spend hours editing and creating new drafts. In the end, I could self publish on hundreds of different services that offer it. And I would be an author. It doesn’t have to be commercially successful--just the fact that I published a book would mean that I followed my dream. And in America, nothing is stopping me. There is every opportunity for me to do what I want to do and to be what I want to be.

No other country in the world offers as many opportunities for people to succeed, no matter what their definition of success is. And that’s the American Dream.