Children

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I asked different people what The American Dream means to them and some of the answers were: to be a successful kindergarten teacher, to have a family who loves you, and to have family values. So I think The American Dream is different for everyone.

I think it means what you want for your future or what you hope for. What I dream to be in the future is either a chef or a missionary. In both ways, you are helping people. If I am a chef, I plan to cook different dishes including Vietnamese dishes because my mom is Vietnamese. I’d make a dish called Bhan Trang Noc Tom. This is a rice roll dipped in a special sauce. It is stuffed with shrimp and you eat it with herbs such as mint, basil, and cilantro. All Vietnamese dishes are eaten with a lot of herbs. My mom eats a lot of herbs and we grow it in pots on our front porch.

I think being a chef is possible to achieve because my mom is a very good cook. She taught herself how to cook, which I think is amazing! She had to cook a lot when she was a little girl. She taught herself how to sew too.

My motivation is my mother. She’s been a big help to me. She tells me that I can do anything if I stick my mind to it. She says not to give up and keep working, practicing and trying. That’s what she did when she was younger. That’s what I see her do now.

I think being a missionary is even more achievable than becoming a chef. I tried to make macaroni and cheese by myself once and, let me tell you, it was soggy! I didn’t drain the noodles and just put the cheese sauce in it. It was too runny.

I don’t think everyone can have their dreams come true because everyone’s dreams are different. Some dreams are against the law too. For instance, some people may want to be great terrorists, even the greatest terrorist in the world and some may want to be a yoga-doing-Kung-Fu-teaching-flexibility person but they just don’t have it in them. Plus the terrorist thing is against the law and not a very good thing. Well, everyone has different opinions and that is my opinion.

A successful person to me is someone who works hard at whatever they do. They are willing to make sacrifices and they handle things well. They find and have encouragement through difficult times.

Being an American means having freedom to me. This means being able to go out and shop and having privileges. I don’t have to ask the government if I want to go out and do something. Being free means being able to come up with my own ideas and to try and make them come alive.

If I could make something better, I would make a ball that could turn into different types of balls. It could turn into a football, a basketball, a soccer ball, etc. It would have an Aim Monitor attached to it and you could aim it toward any goal and it would hit that goal each time. This would be a neat invention because I know how frustrating it is when you miss the goal.

This would be a good invention, I think, because it would help people aim better. They can use this during practice but not in actual games and playing because it would be cheating.

If I couldn’t say the “Pledge of Allegiance” I would be angry. Being able to say the “Pledge of Allegiance” shows my support for my country. If I wasn’t allowed to say it, I would burst! That’s how strongly I feel about it.

Our troops, leaders, and good citizens make this country great to me. I love this country and I am thankful that my mom was brought around the globe so that she could grow up in America and have me!

By Candy Mabra, age 11
C/0 Lena Mabra
[email protected] or [email protected]

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