Opportunity

When I was young, Arkansas’ motto was “Land of Opportunity.” This motto was proudly displayed on our license plates, and I distinctly remember asking my mother what it meant. She explained to me that opportunities were chances or choices that we have. At the time, I thought that only people living in Arkansas could benefit from opportunities. I have since learned that America is the land of opportunity, and all Americans have chances and choices.

Where else, except America, could a homeless child grow up to be a national reporter for MSNBC? Jeannette Walls was born into poverty. Her mother and father were both well educated, but they lived as nomads. Tents and cars were their homes. After lunch, Jeannette and her siblings searched for food in the cafeteria dumpers; food they could take home for supper. They never had a home, but this did not stop Jeannette from dreaming of someday living in a house with real furniture and curtains on the windows. At 17, she left her family and went to New York City to pursue her American Dream. Jeannette wanted something that she never had and that was a home. She now lives in the house of her dreams. (1)

I felt that Jeannette's story was a perfect fit to what one of my friends said about the American Dream. When I asked my friend what her American Dream was, she told me it was having the opportunity to have a job, a family and to live in a comfortable house. After a short pause she looked at me and just said, "I guess it's really just about having opportunities."

America is a place where people do have opportunities. We have the opportunity to worship what we believe, get an education, raise a family, have a house, have a career, etc. We are the only ones who can limit our opportunities. As the old saying goes, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Of course, opportunities have changed over the years. Since America was formed, we have seen minorities and women continually gain rights and freedoms, which give them more opportunities. Americans have more choices and chances today than ever before. It is up to each individual to take advantage of them.

(1) http://gothamist.com/2005/05/27/jeannette_walls_author_the_glass_castle_gossip_columnist_msnbccom.php