A college degree is what society declares Americans should strive for these days. The world is becoming more utilized, sapping the natural resources allowing countries like the United States of America to become more advanced, ingenuitive and allowing for a fast pace of living with instant gratification (ex: “On Demand,” “fast food,” “In & Out Burger,” “Stop & Shop” “Quickie Mart” etc.) Yet as readily as the United States is a place where citizens can fulfill their “American Dream,” it is limiting, brainwashing, self-righteous, egotistical and is slaughtering the aspirations of many. Not everyone can achieve the “dream,” circumstances do not allow it, with social limitations of the working class and the high importance put on higher education (university) that it gouges the pockets of the hard working. What are personal aspirations worth in comparison to following the higher education system America has so neatly constructed?
As a young, headstrong, modern self-proclaimed hippie, minus the drugs, but still trying to change the world, I decided to try my luck swimming up stream. A month before my higher education experience of Salem State began, I was still living off the exhilaration of traveling cross-country for seven weeks. Camping out in National Parks, encountering black bears, literally getting closer to nature and incessantly snapping the shutter of the camera to remember it all, I felt like a renewed soul ready to challenge the system. So I gave it a push to see if it would shove back.
As an avid cyclist, I felt I was in the perfect position to skyrocket to the top tier of pro-cycling just like local legend Tyler Hamilton did at the age of twenty quite a few years ago. I had a dream to become a full-time cyclist, drop out of college before I began and work part-time. Feeling inspired and acting like I had nothing to lose, I approached my father and explained to him I did not want to follow the “system” and I had a dream to become a professional cyclist. To get paid to ride expensive carbon fiber bicycles that one can lift with a mere pinky. He replied, “Without an education your future cannot not be a secure. Less and less jobs exist for uneducated people.” A textbook answer, and definitely not the one I wanted to hear. Of course jobs exist, but I didn’t want to be stuck in a café my whole life serving people and pleasing their every whim, for the sake of a businesses reputation. I groaned, debated, which degenerated into arguing, four years is a long time especially since I had yet to even begin school. But I found it hard to be defiant when it is the hand that feeds you. Reflecting upon my father’s reaction to my “push” at the boundaries of society, it was not him putting me down to crush a dream, but rather an act of compassion to see me succeed as a student and parley all of my skills into a dream job upon graduating from university.
My experiences from attending Salem State have been eye opening, challenging, intriguing and certainly not dull like I imagined. To sacrifice my personal desires to follow the predetermined path America has laid down now seem insignificant. There are larger events and people than me, which I oftentimes find impossible to influence. Foremost, the United States public school systems that effectively portrays America as a perfect country, often times misrepresenting the facts of historical figures like Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson. I am seemingly small in a world that’s population continues to inflate at a staggering rate. My dream seems inconsequential to the eyes of many others, but is it right for me to sacrifice my dream to follow another’s, namely America’s system of education?
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