My Teenage American Dream

Historian James Adams once defined the American Dream as “That dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for every man, with opportunity for each according to his ability or achievement.” To me the American Dream is having the opportunity to come from nothing and yet being able to get everything. When I was born I came from nothing. I was one out of nine children (three of which hadn’t been born yet); my mom was poor and worked as a maid, having given up her previous children for adoption. While I don’t know much about her, I know that by giving me and my other siblings up, she gave all of us a chance to have something better for ourselves, even if we didn’t know it yet.

Since I was in elementary school, I had dreamed of going to highschool: being able to make new friends, going to school dances, taking classes that I somewhat enjoy, living life as a teenager in America instead of living life as a teenager with no education in Guatemala. I wanted to take those steps to figure out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do with my life. There were many opportunities to learn and grow, and one opportunity I had was my school talent show.

My school put on it’s talent show in the Spring, and since I love to sing, I decided to try out. I don’t tend to sing in front of people, so auditioning was really scary. I remember fiddling with my backpack straps as I walked down the hall to the choir room, not really sure what to expect. When I walked in the room, I saw a bunch of kids who were probably as nervous as I was. Well, at least some of them. There are different kinds of kids who try out for talent shows, and it’s very easy to point them out. There are the kids who think that they’re better than everyone else, because they think they can sing or dance or do whatever it is that they do, but don’t actually know how. There are the kids who think that they’re better than everyone else, because they CAN actually sing or dance and do it without even breaking a sweat. There are the kids whose parents raised them to be good at some sort of musical instrument. And of course there are the kids who have talent but are too afraid to use it, and never sing or dance or do whatever their passion is, because if they used their talent in front of people someone might laugh or tease them, or they might not be as good as everybody else. Yeah… I was that kid.

Let’s pause this story for a second as I explain what got me into singing. I had a solo in my church choir, where I was to sing about God and whales and the fact that he was bigger than a whale. Anyways, I had no fear about singing or how I sounded back then, but of course I was only six, so it didn’t really matter. The point is I was raised on music: my dad was the sound guy at our church, and so I went with him before our church group even started and watched him do soundchecks with the band. Now fast forward to age 14, when I was introduced to this really cool singing show called The Voice. Every week my family would gather around the television and stare in amazement and wonder as we were introduced to people from around the country who set out to be “The Voice”. It was then that I decided that I was going to be on The Voice; I was going to audition and be the singer that I had always wanted to be, and auditioning for the school talent show was a step in the right direction. Now that you know that background, let’s resume the story.

I walked in the room, saw all those kids and took a deep breath. “I’m really going to do this,” I thought. A few people had already auditioned, and as I looked around, I realized that my name was being called “Jay? Jay Haglund?” “That’s me,” I said raising my hand. “Okay. What is your act?” Mr. Mowen, the drama teacher asked. “Um. I’m going to be singing ‘Riptide’ by Vance Joy.” “Okay, you can start whenever your ready.” I nodded, grabbing the microphone from his hand. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and began to sing. After I finished singing, people looked shocked and began to clap. “Wow! Jay that was really good!” Mr. Mowen said. “T-thanks,” I said smiling. A few days later the talent show list was posted on the drama teacher’s door, and sure enough my name was there…

After that I showed up for rehearsal every Thursday to practice for the show, and soon it was the night of the talent show. Mr. Mowen informed us that we would be doing the show twice. Once in the evening for our parents and friends, and once the next morning in front of the entire school. The one in the evening went smoothly, and I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. But the second show was a different story. “Okay. I can do this,” I said to myself. “I did it once; I can do it again.” Just then my friend Srisha came up to me, “Jay you’ll do fine. You have a good voice and people will love it. I mean, I know I did.” “Thanks Srisha,” I said smiling. After that I smiled and waited for my name to be called, and when it was my turn I sang my heart out, just like I did when I was by myself in my room. And Srisha was right: the whole school stood and clapped, and after the show was over, I was complimented by students and teachers. I was so proud of myself. I’ll never forget the day that I was more than a teenage girl singing in her room. Even though the talent show was three years ago, I continue to sing, and my dream is still to be on The Voice. I’m still working up the courage to audition…

Now you must be thinking, “What does this have to do with the American Dream?” Well I’m happy to explain. I would not have been able to have such an amazing experience, had it not been for my parents adopting me and giving me the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them. I came from nothing, but was blessed with everything. I have everything I need: friends, family, education, and all the tools I need to keep moving forward. I continue to keep living my American Dream and hope to help others live theirs.