Since moving to the United States of America, I have come across many things while attending college, and one specific thing that caught my interest was the idea of the American dream.

Before moving from New Zealand to America, I had an idea about the American dream, consisting of a house with a white picket fence, a good job with good income and a loving family to come home to every day.

Simple necessities.

However, as an international student, I didn’t know the other aspects that are involved with the American dream that I have now learned by beginning my sociology degree at Fresno State.

All around the world, America is portrayed as the “land of the free,” and somewhere that opportunities come around every corner.

Yet this is not the case for everyone living here. The biggest aspect of the American dream, in my eyes, is the idea of equal opportunity.

It is well known that in the past there were many instances of inequality between ethnic groups, including voting rights or segregation, which affected many people and their fulfillment of their own American dreams.

Though certain laws and regulations have been abolished, I believe discrimination and the inequality and discrimination toward certain groups continue to happen now.

Even though these rights have improved over time, I still believe America can increase the rates of individuals fulfilling their own American dreams by changing the way they treat all ethnic groups — fairly and equally.