TheUnitedStatesofAmericaisoftenseenasanationinwhichthepursuitofhappinessisnotadreambutareality.
Thesadtruthisthatalthoughportrayedasanunusuallyeasylife,lifeinAmericaisasmuchofastruggleasinanyothernation.Forexample,higherleveleducationforAmericansdoesnotcomeeasy.Althoughtherearescholarships,grantsandloansavailable,ifthestudentfailstomeetthecriteriaheisleftwithonlypersonalresourcestodrawfrom.
Thistakeshimintoalifewithnotonlyaschoolscheduletofollowbutperhaps,also,aworkscheduleandfamilylife.
TheseareoftenthedifficultiesthatarenotportrayedthroughtheTVandmovies.ThesearealsothedifficultieswhichmanybelievetheywillnotencounterbyattendinganAmericancollege.Inthesecondplace,thereisfinancialsecurity.
ManytimeswhatisportrayedoflifeinAmericaisalifewhere“moneyisnoobject”.
Thefallacyinthisisthateachpersonhastheirownpersonalstruggleandmoneyisanobjectforthemajorityofthepeople,inspiteofthecomparativelyhigherwagesavailable,thecostoflivingisalsohigher.Eventhoughitmayseemlikeoneismakingmoremoney,justasmuchisspentinsurviving.
ThirdlyisthebeliefthatintheAmericanwayoflifeeveryonehasagoodjob.Withtheincreasingadvancementsintechnology,awell-payingjobforthosecurrentlyintheworkforceisgettinghardertofind.Thosewhohavenotbeenexposedtocomputersandothernewmethodsofcommunicationarefindingthistobetrue.Asitstandsnow,thejobmarketisrequiringatleastatwo-yeardegreefromcollege,inordertomakeenoughtolivecomfortably.Eventhenwell-paidjobsarenoteasytofind,asitissometimesbelievedbecauseoftheportrayaloflifeinAmerica.