The American Dream: Whats the Goal (script)

Ali Schuh, Ellie Bromley, Emma Weiss, and Lilli Hlavin

Introduction (30-60 seconds)

Lilli: A dream becomes a goal when action is taken towards its achievement - Bo Bennett

(Theme Song)

Ali: During the process of interviewing and researching, weve learned that people who reside in
America and have had good experiences growing up, have a goal that is in reach. But in some
cases, people in America who are struggling or had struggled in the past, have more of a dream
because at times what they wanted to achieve was out of reach.

Ali: The question we are going to attempt to answer during this podcast is, what is the
difference between an American dream and a goal?

Ali: Now as we move into the next part of the podcast, I want you to listen carefully to the
information we have collected and ask yourself: Is what the people are describing, more of a
dream or more of a goal?

Body (2-4 minutes)

10 sec - Body intro Song

Scarlett: People come here to find freedom and start a better chapter in their lives

Dawoud: I would have to say, lots of opportunity and being free

Alis Dad: The American dream to me, is finding a good wife, having a good job, being able
able to own your own home, being able to raise your family in as least as good of a situation
that you were raised in if not better, having financial independence so you dont have to rely on
other people, and having your children go through college and come out without debt

Lucy: My American dream is, what I should say is I wasnt born her but when I was coming here
I was looking for more opportunities like work, get some, like go to school, go back to school,
because it was easy for me to go back to school here. Also for my children to continue with their
education and achieve what they like in their education, and get some good work to do, like
good places to work.

Lilli: The definition of a dream is to contemplate the possibility of doing something. A dream is
to think of something you might want to accomplish or have in the future, but arent actively
pursuing. A goal is the object of a persons ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. This is
the active effort achieving something that was probably once a dream. In the parts of our
interviews we have just shared with you, you may have been able to differentiate the dreams
from the goals. You could pick out the goals by looking at the achievable, already accomplished
things like finding a wife and sending your kids to college like Alis dad. And then there are the
obvious dreams like Lucys, whos dream was to find more job and educational opportunities.
These are things she couldnt find in Kenya, the place where she was born, but her dream was
to acquire these things so she left. That is a dream.

Ellie: Aric Mitchell a Freelance Entertainment and Political Journalist stated that, Since the
housing crisis of 2008, more individuals and families have found themselves homeless and
fighting for the chance to find the American Dream. How many people in struggle need
organizations and volunteer programs to help them reach their American Dream?
The Junior Achievement Organization stated, 20% of U.S. students will not complete high
school on time and earn a diploma. And 91% of millennials wish they had greater access to
entrepreneurial education programs. When one does not have the qualifications, history, or
money to be successful in America, it is hard and nearly impossible to achieve your goal. But,
through the help of organizations, and improving one's work ethic, a dream can become a
reality little by little.

10 sec- song

Conclusion (1-2 minutes)

(Theme song)

Emma: Is there a difference between the American Dream and a goal? Throughout our
research and interviews we came to the conclusion that the American Dream is alive, but is
more prominent in places of struggle and with people who have gone through or are going
through severe struggles. The American Dream mainly is within people in other countries who
are yearning for more, and the first big step of that is coming to America. All Americans have
goals, but most of their goals are obtainable and what they want to pursue, for example making
more money or a better job, rather than the American Dream of coming here to escape from
something.

Lilli: The common tone of our podcast and interviews is optimism in the face of adversity.
Whether that adversity is school, work, or social justices, our interviewees have all faced
adversity or oppression in some form or fashion.

Lilli: Our group believes that the majority of Americans believe that the American dream is
pretty attainable if you work hard and persevere through hard times.

Lilli: We want to give a huge thank you to our interviewees. The music we used in this podcast
is not our intellectual property, but we wish it was because it is so great. Thank you to the Beach
Boys and the Morning Jacket, as well as their record companies Capitol Records for providing
us with such perfect music. And without Aric Mitchell and Bo Bennett we would not have the
great statistics and stories that make this podcast so much more than what it would be. We also
want to thank Ms. Dott for providing us with such an eye-opening project that allowed us to
expand our opinion on what the American dream is, and what it means to our fellow Americans.
And a final thank you the listeners for (hopefully) not dozing off during our podcast. Thank yall.
 Work Cited
Inspire and Prepare Young People to Succeed. Home - Junior Achievement USA,
www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-usa/home

Mitchell, Aric. 5 Homeless People Who Beat The Odds and Achieved the American Dream.
4Tests.Com, 26 July 2015, blog.4tests.com/5-homeless-people-who-beat-the-odds/