In-class Essay #1: California Dream

California Dream

            My dad moved to U.S. in 1993, and after traveling through America for years, California has become his final destination. He said, “ as soon as I landed on California, I knew that I was in a place of opportunities and dreams.” And not just my dad, a lot of people have felt the same way about this wonderful state. Different people have different perspectives and definitions on California dream, and as Californians, we have strength and faith of being who we are right now. Even though we know that our dreams could be broken down at any monuments, and failure has always been our best friend, we do not like to give up; the pressure to succeed has become our motivation and kept us overachieving.

            “California Dream is simply a vision of good life,” (Pg 23) mentions Rawls in his article. But why California? What elements make California so special? While I was living in China with my grandparents, my parents would always call me and tell me all the good things about California. They told me that the best part of California is the clean and beautiful environment, and because of its population, the state is far away from pollution. I did not really believe them at the first place, but after I moved here, I was really fascinated by the beautiful landscapes. In China, buildings are built up because of the high population, and the factories pollute the green part of the country. In comparison, California really has an amazing natural environment.

            The other reason that keeps California attracting people from all over the world is because of the job opportunities. Spooner mentions in his article, “a lot of people came down to California from Iowa because they want to escape from their community, and search for a better life” (Pg 45). In California, businesses produce more income compare to the other states, and also California boats two world-class cities: Los Angles and San Francisco, and no other states have that. Indeed, that does create more opportunities for all the California dreamers.

On the other hand, not all the people were fortunate enough to get a job. In Lopez’s story, he states that his father was very disappointed when he was not able to get a job when he first moved to America (Pg 7). That altered people’s expectations on the California dream. It is really hard for people to find jobs with high payments if they do not have a college diploma and also cannot speck English very well. My parents have faced those problems too when they first moved to California. They had a hard time learning a new language, and also struggling with their jobs, but they never give up, because they still have that dream lives inside of them.

            There are a lot people came to California with high expectations, but got very disappointed when they find out that how hard it is in order to achieve that dream. However, the California dreams still exist based on my own personal experience. My close friend’s sister Linda, a current engineer in Apple. Linda moved to America in 1998, she lived in Oklahoma for nine years and after all the hard works she eventually become an engineer; finally, she decided moved to California in 2007. She told me that as an engineer, Silicon Valley really is the best place for her to find a job, and she did. Right now, she has working in Apple for five years, and she is also planning to have her own business in the future, and this could be her second California dream: an African style restaurant.

             California is not just a county with warmth, sunshine, gold, and beaches. It contains dreams and opportunities. Almost everybody has the California dream that they could have their own mansion, driving a super "dope" car, to live their life in paradise. But, no one can achieve dreams that easily. People have to work hard and harder in order to live out their dreams.