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One Generation’s Future, For Another's Dream
Polina Gubarev
I believe that America truly is the “Land of Opportunity,” a land where the self-made man
is found on every corner, a land that serves as an example to all other lands, a land where
wealth and social status do not inhibit one’s potential. I believe that in America, anything is
possible Why America? I believe that it is mostly blind faith, and a hardworking spirit that
drove my family here.
My brave parents believe this as well. Without this belief, and their unconditional love for
me, they would have never made the life changing decision to immigrate here from Moscow,
Russia. It is important to note that when they left, my mother and father gave up everything
they worked for. They had both just started promising careers of dentistry and oral surgery.
They were at the height of their potential. However, when I was born, my mother and father
started to worry- they did not want me to experience the same hardships that they had to go
through to achieve greatness. So, they moved here, sacrificing their careers, leaving all family
behind. I was just three years old when the three of us packed our belongings and boarded our
first plane, heading to a place we only knew one thing about- it had hope.
I was raised speaking Russian, and only learned English when I started school. My parents constantly stress that they sacrificed their past lives for me, so that I could swim calmly
through the treacherous waves of life. When I was younger, I always took their words for
granted. I didn’t fully listen. When my father would lecture me for hours about a B instead of
an A, I let the words come in one ear and fly out through the other. Now, I take the time and
listen and appreciate what he says.
There was not a sort of event that made me realize my parents were right, it just came
with age. Sadly, it took me a long time to figure out that they only want the best for me. I have
developed an unstoppable determination, so much so that it is one of my main personality
traits. I never accept mediocrity in anything I do.
Each morning as I sleepily go to school, my father reminds me, “I brought you to this
country, now do something with it.” The weight of that statement pushes me through my chal-