Isabella Fernandez

Mrs. Storer
English III Honors
March 12th 2020
My Biggest Takeaway from A Raisin in the Sun
The biggest takeaway I had from reading Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is
how the idea of the American Dream inspired and influenced African Americans in the 1950s. A
Raisin in the Sun alludes to dreams, and the oppressive circumstances that ruled their life. Every
member of the Youngster family has a dream—Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor, Walter
wants to be rich so he can afford things for his family. But their struggle to attain these dreams is
made difficult by their lack of money.
My family has always encouraged and inspired me to fight for my dreams. They have
always given me everything to attain my dreams over the past few years. When I was little, I
loved to paint, draw, and create pretty much everything that involved art and being creative. My
parents bought me numerous art sets and paints to encourage me to follow my dream. They put
me in art classes in my school, as well as after school classes. I became better and better due to
the opportunities my parents were able to give me. As I grew up, I started to like music,
particularly singing. My parents put me into singing classes as well as piano classes. I went as
much as three classes a week. My parents went to my piano recitals and were very proud as I
dived deeper into what I thought was my passion.
Fortunately, my parents were able to give me these opportunities since we always had the
sufficient amount of money. For the first few years of my life, my family and I lived in Mexico.
My dad worked as an engineer for Whirlpool, and international company. He was given an
opportunity in his company to move to Saint Joseph, Michigan with his family as an expatriate in
the company. An expatriate in Mexico, is someone who is sent to live in another country and
work for the same company to work on international projects. An expatriate family gets their
house paid for a limited time. We were sent to live in Michigan for two years. I was five years
old while my brother was 8. It was very hard to adjust to the culture of the United States at first,
especially not knowing the language at all. Luckily, as a five-year-old I was able to pick up the
language very quickly and I made friends very fast. As my dad worked at U.S. Whirlpool, he
started to become more valuable in the company and was promoted. We were able to stay for
two more years before returning to Mexico. We returned to Mexico when I was nine and stayed
in Mexico for four more years before my dad was hired by a new company and we all moved to
San Diego, California.
Due to the education I got from Michigan, I was able to advance greatly in Mexico, as a
bilingual. I was near the top of my class and got awards and diplomas in my English classes. I
am very grateful that my family had the opportunity to move to the U.S. where we became
citizens and were given a home. If I think about how my life could have changed had we not
moved to Michigan, I know I would have turned out completely different. I am thankful I had the
opportunity to excel academically due to this cultural change, and I know identify as Mexican-
American. When comparing my experience to the Youngster family, I know I have had great
advantages. I was able to exercise my dreams and was given many opportunities at doing so. In
Mexico, my family did not have a lot of money, yet we were given the opportunity to move up in
life. The circumstances which have led to us today being U.S. citizens, and my dad earning
dollars instead of pesos. I am very proud that I had this chance to acquire knowledge, culture,
and work at my dreams.