MOSAIC: voices from Polson High School

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Be honest. Be kind. Be temperate.

Chance’s American Dream

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The American dream has almost always been a want and not a necessity. It’s what we want out of life and who we want to be, not what or who we need to be. This is what makes America, well, America. Our wants and expectations of our selves are always moving up; we are always pushing the bar just a little higher. Each generation wants what the last one had- with a cherry on top. And I suppose that I am not any different.

My number one priority is to graduate high school with a 3.5 GPA or better. It will be extremely hard but I think that I will be able to pull it off. Another top priority is my car, a 1972 Plymouth Satellite. It’ll have a semi-chromed engine, with black and yellow engine accents. It will have a black body with yellow racing stripes that will slide over it, a black and yellow interior and re-chromed front and rear bumpers.

For me, this car will be more than a car, because my grandpa and I are rebuilding it together. So this gives it a rather high sentimental value as well as a big dollar sign, not that I would ever sell it. After my home school mechanic teachings and high school, I want to put myself through a tech school and become a certified mechanic and auto body specialist. I want to learn enough to take a piece of junk car found in the woods, and turn it back into an American classic to sell at a high profit. Classic car restoration would only be a hobby though. Opening up a mechanic/auto body shop in the valley is what I would really want to do. A good mechanic that doesn’t over charge in a small town almost sounds too good to be true.

Speaking of too good to be true, you can’t forget about the perfect day. It’s either on a Saturday or Sunday, playing catch with your kids or talking with your friends and family around the grill. The type of day where work just seems to disappear and you have no worries whatsoever. The smell of the BBQ pork chops in the air and you just don’t want it to end. That’s the real American dream isn’t it? A loving wife, your family and friends close to you in a place that you call home, guess it doesn’t get much better than that.

The phrase life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are all equally important to the nation, but to me as an individual the most important might just be the pursuit of happiness.  Pursuing and obtaining our wants and self-fulfillment are what make us happy. Or, is obtaining them directly out of the question, can we only care for our family and friends and enjoy life to make our selves happy? I don’t know, but thirty years from now when I’m standing around the barbecue with my wife and friends, and somebody brings up the question of where I would want to be, I’d reply, “Right here my friend, right here.”

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