Carson’s Dreamweaver Blog

For one of my last blogs, I want to reflect on how I am achieving my American Dream throughout the semester. I had before written out a blog about what that meant for me and what my dream looked like personally. I have luckily been fortunate enough to afford the things I would like to do. I have fully paid off the last season I marched and am working on paying for the next season. I also have paid off the school year and am as of right now debt free. Basically, I have been financially achieving the dream for myself. To be honest, I think this trip showed me how much I enjoy the things I am doing and how right I was about what my American Dream was. I picked the things I am passionate about and am achieving them at the highest level. University of Oklahoma have given me tools to learn how to code and program as well as how to read the world around me and to belong. (I also do not agree with the school taking away the Gateway to Belonging class because I thought it was useful.) I have almost secured the job I wanted for the next semester and we will see how that goes in the near future. I wonder what the next year will look like for me, as many things will change. I have many important audtions and classes I will be taking the next 2 semesters and I pray that they turn out well for me. I hope to maintain my grade point average as well. The trip to Dayton helped me focus in on these things and realize that what I planned on doing is coming to fruition. Now, it is time for me to be able to fully achieve my goals and set new ones.

When the founding fathers wrote the documents that based the laws, rules, and morals of the country, they wrote with foresight in mind on how society may change. You can see this as they write things about freedom of action and about certain amendments. The first and second amendments are two that can be referenced. The first allows freedom of things such as speaking own morals and as well as religious freedom. They had foresight as to the fact that Americans will not all be conforming to one God or religion and that is very true in our world today. The second amendment can be argued for because I believe the founders knew how technological advancements would be made to the speed and effectiveness of firearms and weapons. Basically I am implying that the founders had a sense of foresight into the changes of the country and how our culture may evolve.

That being said, I think the founders wrote laws and rules that allow for society to evolve the American Dream in many ways. To begin, access to the American Dream has evolved greatly to include so many different people and groups. Secondly, I think freedom of action creates the biggest playground for people to use to shape the American Dream for themselves. People are able to use their freedoms to create their own lifestyle. Religious choice, cultural acceptance, and freedom to speak ones own mind. I think it is cool to say that these people were so thoughtful as to how the country would form. They also state how they secure certain rights and values for themselves and their posterity (us), and the Constitution is able to be amended, so we can still secure the rights based on our world today. I like to believe that these people writing the documents were looking out for people like me when writing documents hundreds of years ago.

So hundreds of years ago, my family lived in the colonies of America. Settled in New Jersey was the Boudinot family. Reaching back to 9 generations ago lived Elias Boudinot, my 7th great grandfather. He was a lawyer, statesman, and early abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. Alongside all of those, he became one of the Presidents of the Continental Congress 1782. Another thing was him being the commissary general for prisoners and a colonel for the Continental Army.

His brother in law, Richard Stockton, is a name that is not well known, but exists in a place many take awe of. He is one of fifty six delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence. He also served in the Continental Congress alongside Elias.

My discovery of this information is from the Gateway to Belonging class we have to take here at OU. My professor has us figure out about our ancestors and write about something interesting relating to the family. My grandmother told me about how the family extends back to the 1700’s and what they all did.

I think it was so crazy to read about how my family was such an active role in the American Revolutionary War so many years ago. They lead the country to a direction that created the American Dream. While not being totally famous to the creation of the country, they lead in many important ways that helped form the ideals and laws of the country. I cannot speak on behalf of their dreams, but they did achieve some of the highest honors you can have in the country.

Another thing I think is crazy is finding letters between one of my direct ancestors and George Washington about his presidency. Being a kid who watched and still listens to Hamilton, I was so giddy about seeing him write “I have the honor to be with every Sentiment of Esteem & Friendship Your Excellency’s Most Obedt & most Hble Servt” E. Boudinot.

This question could mean a couple of things. The two things that first come to mind are very different. One is a more personal and broad question, while the other is very much definite in nature. First is if a person ever stops chasing the American Dream. The second is if there will ever be a day where the American Dream ceases to exist, and what may cause that.

First, I do not think there is an end to the American Dream. I believe that as life goes on you change your goals based on where you are in life. Even though you may have all the things done you set out to do years ago, there is always a goal to be had–whether you realize it or not. Everything you do is a step to make it to tomorrow, and that alone is a goal we all have. Dreams are ever changing and may end up completely different than when it began. Either way, the dream will live on till you pass.

Secondly, I do think the American Dream could fade away one day. Assuming American does not outlive the end times, I think something may happen that causes America to possibly dissipate. After that, the generations of people who grew up in America will fade out to where nobody is left. How is there a dream with no country it represents? Another idea is that out country changes to a point where freedoms become stripped from us and causes a life with no goals, but only set guidelines and rules. The last option would be some utter destruction of America that also destroys the dream. Otherwise, I think the idea of the dream will keep changing with generations and mold into something new for everyone that follows me.

I think the dream will not ever come to an end in either fashion. While it may dissipate later on in life, As long as I live I will have some variation of my American Dream that I continue to strive for.

I had to make a very important and one of the toughest decisions I ever made when coming to college. I had to figure out what I wanted to major in. My mind went to two things instinctively: music education and computer science. I had to make a choice as to what I thought I was meant to do.

Music has been a part of my life for about 8 years now. I started playing piano when I was 13 and now continue to do all sorts of music today. I have begun doing small amounts of teaching in my life with local schools, and even finding students to give private lessons too. I feel like part of me will always have a desire to teach, but there just is not a lot of money in that line of work.

Programming is something I began in 5th grade. I had a robotics class I took after school and ended up loving it, doing it for 2 years and returning as a teachers aid a couple times. I then took engineering the first two years of high school where me and a fellow peer here at OU made a small scale car with a throttle and steering wheel. I loved doing this stuff and thought I could enjoy this in my life

Computer science pays so well I thought this was my path to economic safety. I know how important it is to be financially stable in life. One of my professors told me it is okay to do something that puts me in a better spot in life as long as I don’t completely disregard my passion for music. I think he was very insightful in his response and I plan on implementing that into my life choices as I pursue my passions, goals, and American Dream as a whole.

Something that recently has caught my attention is how much people talk about price changes in recent years. Many of my friends mention how expensive groceries are now. I even see posts on social media about how much rent has changed. I decided I wanted to do some research and see how much the trends have changed since around 2018. I picked being near 2018 because I think that is a good enough time into Trump’s presidency and before COVID so we can see how things have really changed as American has changed.

The USDA says food prices have gone up about 25% since 2019. In recent trends we see things like eggs surging in price where people begin to buy more at once just to try and compensate for the inflating prices. Right now, the average rent in the US is $1,372. The average in 2018 was $1,025. That difference adds up to a difference approaching $4,000 dollars a year in just housing

Another thing is that in just one year, cost of living has increased about 3 percent. Over many years where sometimes people receive no pay increase, I think that could be dangerous

I think I should be concerned about prices as I start to become independent. I am about to have to start paying for an apartment, groceries, a lot more of my school, and other activities I have mentioned in these blogs before. I would like to be able to say I am confident I can afford everything but I am scared to see what happens. I don’t want to give up the things I love and I hope that eventually I can see a day where I am in a safe place financially and can afford to do all of the things my heart desires.

My family stems from a history of being Native Americans. I have connections to the Choctaw tribe that go back to where I am 1% native. However, even though parts of the family are about 5%, nobody has any form of registration. From what they say about it, being Native American was not something people were openly proud of back in time.

My family is from Whitesboro, Oklahoma. Where the population sits at just under 250. Basically, there were as many people in my high school band as there are in this entire town. My family farmed and raised cattle as well. They told me about how nobody from their lineage registered to the Choctaw tribe because of ridicule people gave in the community. Back then, not many were proud of their history and because of that, they did not become affiliated with any Native organization.

Sadly, this decision has drastically changed the financial course of things for my family. School is harder to pay for and I would have access to certain benefits that could be of use to me and some of my situations. I wonder what the direction of my life would look like had I been a member of the Choctaw tribe. Would I still be at OU, would I be a computer science major, or would I even still be doing music?

I wish I knew more about why people did not register in older time. It was many generations ago, so I know things were different. If my family settled in a different town, would I be a member of the Choctaw tribe? I am unsure. Gladly, things are different today. Tribes do performances across high schools and colleges through the state. People today are more proud of heritage than before and I am glad for them.Hopefully the trend continues throughout the course of my life.

For me, it is important that I successfully fulfill my dream in life. To begin, I should explain exactly what that is. I want to graduate with my masters degree in computer science with the accelerated program here at OU. Alongside that, I want to compete in a few years of music through the winters and summers. Afterwards, I would like to find a job in my specialty of choosing and on the side teach music at a local high school.

My dream is already coming to fruition because I am doing well in school, and competing in things. This summer I get to travel the country doing what I love doing which is music. My goal is by next winter to be teaching at Southmoore High School (where I had graduated from) and begin my journey as being a teacher on the side.

In a few years time, I will have my degree and will be finding some company to work for. I have no clue what I want to do with my degree because of how wide computer science is. Eventually I can pick something, but that time is not now. I think I am well on my way to achieving what I would call my American Dream. I would like to continue to ask myself if I am still on this path as every year passes. Sometimes its hard to notice you have gone off the deep end until it’s too late.

One thing I also want to consider is how may my dream change? Given a few years or even months, a person can completely change their goals. I do not anticipate that, but none-the-less I should be careful to not fully commit myself to something I no longer want. Hopefully looking back on this post I can see that I’ve reached whatever dream I have come to call my own.

A lot of things in life come from having money. Even though most people will say that money cant buy happiness, that is most definitely not true. Sure money can’t buy true love or a family (which is one of the points of the saying) but it can buy most any thing someone wants to create joy. Some people prefer to be by themselves and may have true joy in their passions. A painter can’t be happy without making money to buy paint and canvases.

Your income is solely based on your salary. Living in Oklahoma, the base salary is $7.25, matching the minimum wage set by the government. That gives about $15000 annually. At first to a younger person, that sounds like a lot of money, but to be honest it really covers nothing. Without scholarships, my school costs 25,000 a year. So basically I can work full time all year with no breaks and only cover 60% of my school. With nowhere to live and no food or gas, I would be out of money. Most people see this as a problem, and some counter by saying “If you’re earning that much money then you probably are working a job that SHOULD pay that much”. And yes I agree someone taking orders for McDonald’s shouldn’t make 30 dollars an hour, they should be able to survive.

Basically, I think there should be more than goes into the minimum wage. Whether its age, dependency, place of residence, something should create an ease between living wage and minimum wage. In Oklahoma the different is 9 dollars (Double the actual minimum wage). I would like to see government put more into fixing the disparity and creating a better living situation for people. With a one dollar gap between poverty and the working rate, surely people notice the poor conditions.