We've all joined this for a specific reason. Without any reason, there would be no blogs. Some have joined because they like blogging, some have joined because they want to shout at the world and make sure everyone hears them, and some have joined simply for the heck of it.
Many have joined, I'm sure, for that $1000 jackpot.
Today, college is /expensive/. State colleges can vary widely in cost depending on whether or not you live in the state that sponsors that college. Private colleges cvan vary widely, too. From a mere 20 grand all the ay to nearly 50 thousand clams a year. 0_o
Many of us can't pay all that immediately. I know that if I don't get any scholarships, I'll have to get so far in debt I'll be paying off student loans till I'm 60.
So, I hunt.
Programs like this are awesome. There isn't any grade involved, and all I have to do is let go of all my opinions and bare them for the world to see, pick apart, rave about, judge me for, and maybe, possibly, agree with.
I'm also entering in many other scholarship programs, because, well, I guess I'm greedy. I might not need them (after all, debt will only be one of my problems once I hit adult life head-on) but I still /want/ them. I want the American dream, the epitome of materialistic consumerism, to be a reality. Success. A big house, with expensive cars in the garage and an awesome home theater system. My name in a Popular Science cover story. My face on the TV. My songs on the radio. That'd be alright. But I don't have what it takes. The drive, the determination, the luck. If anyone loves to listen to Third Day, you should have recognized just about that whole shpeel (Rockstar).
Anyways, scholarships provide me with an oppurtunity to fulfill that American Dream, that idol that so many worship.
But, then again, is the American Dream what I'm called to fulfill?
Part of me says that the reason why I want scholarships is so that I could go to a good school and make the world a better place, but my heart states that that is not where it is currently placed. My conscience tells me I should be working for something more, and at the same time something less. My mind tries to rationalize everything I do, but sometimes my soul tells me to just shut the hell up, take responsibility for the monster I've created, and listen to what God has to say.
The American dream can be a good goal. Success is good, no matter how you look at it. Money is not the root of all evil, and sometimes money can buy you happiness. When people respect you for the accomplishments you've made, and when you're the hero of every little science geek who wishes he or she could become something like you, you have an amazing oppurtunity to show the world how good a person can be. All too often, however, that dream gets in the way of the good that can result from it. Although money itself is not evil, the love of money is. When the dream becomes an obsession, when greed drives your motivations, when fear of loss rules your life, bad things happen.
As a Christian, I am called to do my best at everything I do. Whether or not I actually fulfill that calling is another story. I am also called, however, to be a servant to the world; to my neighbor. I have to give my all to Jesus, which means giving my all to everyone around me. Does this mean that success is barred from me? If I acquire anything, do I immediately have to give it back to the poor who may need it more than I? I honestly have no idea. By nature, I hope that I can love everyone while still relaxing in an expenxive leather sofa in my 10-bedroom not-quite-a-mansion-but-still-freaking-big house. If anyone has an answer to that, please tell me.
The American Dream can be a good goal, if taken with a good dose of responsibility, a little bite of perspective beforehand, and a sip of moderation to wash it all down. We must remember, though, that all of our success is a result of not only our hard work, but the people who lift us higher than we could ever have jumped to alone, and we must remember to give them a hand as well. Christian or not, every person in society has a duty they are called to by that society, which they must fulfill in order to keep the world going in a direction away from despotism and anarchy. It is our calling to care for the world, nurture it, and keep it going for the rest of it's long, enduring, sometimes boring and sometimes exciting life.
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I don't care too much for the whole american dream. I just want to live and die, try not to be homeless, and maybe help someone out along the way.
I love abortion. Read more here:
http://progressiveu.org/044921-i-love-abortion-even-if-it-murder
The American Dream isn't so dry-cut when it comes to the hype. There's also rules people gotta know about the game of life (or rather the 'real-world') in order to get there. Depending how people play their cards, the dream can become a reality or disillusionment.
Man, everytime I hear/see the term 'the American Dream', I always think of The Great Gatsby now.
Also, have you tried finding grants? It's practically free money.
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http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/orochigenocide
". . . it is error upon error, clout upon clout, and our best virtue has for its occasion a superfluous and evitable wretchedness. Our life is frittered away by detail."
- Henry Thoreau
Ha! Ditto to the Great Gatsby reference; I was sooo tired of hearing that phrase while reading the book. My sophomore lit teacher had ruined what would've been a great book.
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw