Personal Accomplishments: My American Dream

Accomplishments. What, in your opinion is accomplishment ? Everyone has different thoughts on what achievement or success is. Life that I live, as of today, is my personal accomplishment,because of all the things I had to go through during the years of living in the United States.I have learned a lot of lessons through the years of struggle, and yes, I know what is the downside of the '' American Dream ''. I really do. Let me tell you my story. I came here 10 years ago when I was 20. Like any immigrant, I was in search of a better life, known as '' American Dream ". But something went wrong, and this dream turned into the real life nightmare, stretched for years. I had a J-1 student visa, allowing me to work in the United States during

Man, i loved this place! I remember chatting with cute elderly couples, bringing them fresh-made pancakes for breakfast. I really enjoyed it. My problems started when we landed in the airport of Pensacola, Fla. I found, to my horror, that the folder with my passport, social security card and cash has gone! It was a shocker! I was in panic and total despair... I couldn't believe that this would ever happen to me , a person, who likes to control everything. The airline staff immediately checked the plane,but didn't find anything. I had to face it. No money, no ID, and miles away from home. I was doomed. Thanks God, I was travelling with my college mates, who didn't leave me alone. We got quite, quite the surprise when arrived to '' Crystal Bay ". It turned out that they didn't have any available position for us. It couldn't get any worse. Sadly, our budget , well, my friends' budget, was melting away with every single day of staying at a motel. That's when I decided to call Mr. Williams, my friend from ''Crystal Bay". We, who have worked there, called him Mr. Eddie. He was 70 years old senior living resident, who drove Harley Davidson. Mr. Eddie was always nice to us, students, so this time he didn't live us in a dire straits and helped us to find a living, and even borrowed some money for the security deposit. When all of us have found jobs, we gave him the

I was always wary of it. My college friend Larisa was meeting me at the JFK airport; that summer she was working in the City. Larisa was my college dorm roommate in Russia. She was always chubby and clumsy;nevertheless, people always liked her. We had the same flight back home in 2 days, but Larisa, as it turned out, had different plans. I remember us strolling through the streets late night the day before our flight, when she suddenly asked, '' Do you want to stay? '' Deep inside of my heart I wanted to, but I was hesitating. I was terrified of obscure future; nevertheless, we have missed the flight the next day, intentionally. I still remember that feeling of emptyness inside of me that day-it was hard decision. Larisa and I have found a small room for rent in Brooklyn. The owner of the apartment was an elderly lady, immigrant from the former USSR. Bella, her name, had a home attendant and barely left her room. We have found our first job almost right away. '' 99 Cents '' store was a good deal at that time, since we didn't have a work authorization. Half a year passed. Endless hours and the terrible pay; I still was sending money home,helping my parents. They've spent all their savings to send me here, I felt bad about it. Sometimes, I didn't even have money to buy food, but Larisa was always there for me. Suddenly, one day, Bella passed away. We had no where to go. To our bad luck, the store, we have worked at, had run out of