While the neighborhood you are born into can teach you many valuable skills and lessons, it does not define who you are, and you cannot allow it to hold you back from your greatest potential.

By definition, the American Dream is “the ideal by which equality of opportunity is available to any American, allowing the highest aspirations and goals to be achieved.”

We all love the idea of the little guy rising from the ashes and becoming the best version of themself. We have Mark Zuckerburg, Dolly Parton, Oprah Winfrey, Halle Berry, Leonardo DiCaprio and many more individuals who have risen above their circumstances to become something bigger than just themselves. 

One of the most influential Latina performers, singer-songwriter and actress Jennifer Lopez grew up sharing a bedroom with her sister in The Bronx, New York. Lopez learned a strong work ethic from her parents who worked constantly just to make ends meet and provide for their children. Her most famous song, “Jenny From The Block,” is about childhood roots. She has not forgotten where she came from, but it is what she has achieved that defines who she is. 

In psychology, we see it through Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Maslow put together the motivational theory in the early 1940s. Picture it like a pyramid with five levels, the bottom is your needs for ensuring safety, continuing to love/belonging, moving to esteem, and finally reaching the highest point, self-actualization. 

First-year journalism major Jayla Bailey says that she grew up on the west side of Chicago where she learned to “always watch your surroundings, watch the people around you, and to always watch your own back.” Growing up, she was taught to love those around her even if they’re not traditionally considered family. 

“I look at Rihanna and I see how she came from nothing to being everything,” Bailey said. “What comes to my mind when I think of her is that I could do the same thing. It’s all about the law of affirmations and how whatever you put your mind to happens.” 

I grew up in a small town just outside of Peoria, IL. The town is divided into two sides, the wealthier, “Washingtonian” side of town, and the poorer side, “Sunnyland” sometimes called “Scummyland.” 

I grew up in a cookie-cutter home and went to school with the same people since kindergarten. Now I am attending university just outside Chicago, working a good job, having a full course load, and writing for the Northern Star. 

With all the bias in the world today, we do not deserve for our neighborhood to be one of them. Where we grow up will always have an effect on us, as it should, but it does not need to be what we are known for. I want to be known by the people I have helped, the choices I have made and the words I have written.