Throughout several decades, the “American Dream” has changed from person to person. A lot of people have different dreams of what they want to do with their lives. I talked to my grandmother about her American Dream and how it has changed over time. My grandmother became independent from her parents when she was 20 years old, in 1971. She moved out of her parent’s house when she got married to her first husband. She and her family have always been in the middle class and she has an Associates Degree in Art.

My grandmother’s definition of the American Dream was to have fun and party as a teenager and then settle down, own a car, get a successful job, have a good marriage, have kids after marriage. She wanted to be a Veterinarian or Secretary/Clerk in a business, as she got older. Her first job she was a secretary for a business in Topeka, which she went to school for. Her second job was being a meat wrapper, and her current job is a teacher at Headstart in Holton. When I asked if her gender affected her jobs, she answered “ No, because most secretaries and teachers are females. When I worked as a meat wrapper I could do everything the guys could do except using the meat saw, but that did not really affect my job.”

When I asked her if her definition of the American Dream was similar to her peers’ dreams, she stated, “Yes, it seemed like that was what women back then should do and that’s what you did. You had a job, a family, and ‘lived happily ever after’”

Her dream has changed over the years and as she got older she realized that all things are not perfect and they change. She especially realized that not all marriages are good and not all spouses have the same ideas to help achieve yours’ and their dreams. Whenever she and her first husband needed money, they could always depend on his parents to help them out when they needed financial help. Her views on her dream started changing when her first husband was not ready to have kids when she was. After having finally having two children with her first husband, they later got divorced. After getting the divorce, she discovered that she was the practically the only parent in the relationship, as the father hardly ever asked to have the kids. Dating for her was also very different because she had two children that she had to take care of as well. Also, after the divorce, she had to find a different job because she was working for her ex-husband’s parents’ business. My great-grandmother also died when my grandmothers oldest was just 6 weeks old. After a while, she remarried to her current husband and everything is working out. “It was a weird feeling from being single to being married again. It was also weird having two children and two grandchildren (you and your sister) in the house.”

My grandma feels that she has achieved the American Dream because she has a good successful job, nice home, good marriage, grandkids, and she looks forward to retirement so she can spend time with her husband doing fun things. She believes that the Dream has some meaning currently. “I feel like I used to live from paycheck to paycheck but now I do not feel like I do. The middle class these days are the ‘working poor’ and is sometimes hard to make ends meet.”

I asked her if she would change anything and she said, “No, because if I would change whom I married, I wouldn’t have my children or grandchildren and that is very important to me. The only thing I would change is to find a small farm to live on after the divorce instead of living in town. I used to live with my grandparents in the same house that I am living in now.”

After gathering with some of my classmates that interviewed people that came of age around the same decade as my grandma, I noticed that there were many different points that were talked about and some of the interviewees had very similar definitions of what their American Dream was. Like most people, all of them wanted to have a successful and good life.

When comparing the different interviews, I noticed that having an education, getting married, raising a family, and being financially stable was all very important to all of them. Ryan’s grandma mainly wanted to go to college to get a successful job and have a family. Ethan Brownell’s dad wanted to own land and live a long and simple life. Danielle’s grandpa just wanted to good in life. Grant’s grandma wanted to get an education, finish school, get married, start a family and have a nice house. Rafe’s grandma wanted to be financially stable. Everyone has different dreams but as you can see some of those dreams are similar.

In contrast, a few of the interviewees talked about how they wanted to help their kids out. Rafe and Grant’s grandmas were really focused on making their kids successful and sending them to college. Another thing that I noticed, some of the interviewees talked about how some of their peer’s dreams were either different or the same as their own. Rafe’s grandma noticed that dreams change and sometimes not for the better. Grant’s grandma also noticed this. Both of their husbands died and these events changed their lives.

Some other things that caught my attention, was that some of the interviewees talked more about how everything used to be back then. I gathered that it was very different in the past than it is now and it was better back then. Most people back then were very trustworthy. Today very rarely do you see somebody that is actually truly trustworthy. A handshake back then was more reliable than a contract today. Back then people were willing to work to achieve whatever their dream was, nowadays people are very lazy and don’t want to work to achieve their goals in life. People now have also become more and more divided.

In conclusion, the dream really hasn’t changed much. There are still a lot of similarities as well as differences. The main similarities are to get an education to get a successful job, get married, own some land/house, raise a family and be financially stable. The differences in the dreams were mainly about children and how it used to be back then. I think that all of these concepts for a dream are very important. Everyone should have a dream and be able to accomplish that dream no matter what. If something goes wrong, stay positive and keep moving forward. Not all things you wish to happen will happen the way you want it to and you just have to be prepared for the worse outcome and you have to live your life to the fullest.

After seeing what the American Dream means to other people and what their dreams are, I have started to think about what my personal American Dream is. I want to graduate high school and, after much deciding, begin my career. I have decided that I wanted my career to be Cosmetology. I will only have to go to Cosmetology school for 1 to 2 years. After I graduate from Cosmetology and get my certificates, I would like to go work for a salon in either Topeka or Holton. After I have my career started, I want to get married and get a house. I would like to either live in Holton, Topeka, or Florida; but preferably Holton or Topeka. I do not want to be too far away from my family.

About half a year to a year after I get married, I would like to have two kids; preferably close in age but not too close. I want to raise my kids to be nice and well mannered. It is also very important to me to help my kids to become very successful in life. I will support my kids no matter what.

Like any other person, I would like to be financially stable and be able to retire comfortably. I do not ever want to be worried about not having enough money to get by and I do not want my kids to worry about money issues either.

Like many dreams do, I am sure that my American Dream will change over time. Some things won’t always go the way you wanted it to go but you just have to stay positive and go with the flow. I am more the type of person to just “go with the flow” because I know that things change. If I make plans or have a dream to do something and it does not happen, then I know that I will get upset. I have learned that you should not get upset about something just because it doesn’t go your way. “If it won’t matter in the next five years, then don’t worry about it for the next five minutes”