Oprah Winfrey
Certainly the most successful and one of the most well-known stories of finding the American dream is the story of Oprah Winfrey and her rise from the struggle. Oprah Winfrey was passed from family member to family member throughout her early life and spend much of her young life with her grandmother in Mississippi until her grandmother fell ill. The rest of her preteen years were spent in boarding houses in Milwaukee with her mother where she endured much sexual and physical abuse. Things started to change for her by age 14 when she left to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. She received a scholarship to Tennessee State University but decided to leave college in order to pursue a career in television. With hard work she became the first black female news anchor for the local news at the age of 20. She endured much sexual harassment and humiliation in her second job in Baltimore, Maryland however she refused to give up on a dream because she knew she could endure.
Oprah Winfrey continued followed her dream when she made a life altering move and created Harpo Productions. With this production company she started “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. This move turned a woman from nothing into being the only African-American woman in the 400 richest people in America list today with her net worth of nearly $3 billion. Winfrey's continued to kept her ideas and dreams of being a successful media mogul alive through those tough years in Milwaukee, Nashville and Baltimore. Throughout all of the harsh conditions that Winfrey was forced to live through, she knew that if she kept working or took chances to try and succeed, she could achieve anything one day. Oprah Winfrey has become one of today's most successful stories of achieving the American Dream and having the determination to keep going.
Certainly the most successful and one of the most well-known stories of finding the American dream is the story of Oprah Winfrey and her rise from the struggle. Oprah Winfrey was passed from family member to family member throughout her early life and spend much of her young life with her grandmother in Mississippi until her grandmother fell ill. The rest of her preteen years were spent in boarding houses in Milwaukee with her mother where she endured much sexual and physical abuse. Things started to change for her by age 14 when she left to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. She received a scholarship to Tennessee State University but decided to leave college in order to pursue a career in television. With hard work she became the first black female news anchor for the local news at the age of 20. She endured much sexual harassment and humiliation in her second job in Baltimore, Maryland however she refused to give up on a dream because she knew she could endure.
Oprah Winfrey continued followed her dream when she made a life altering move and created Harpo Productions. With this production company she started “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. This move turned a woman from nothing into being the only African-American woman in the 400 richest people in America list today with her net worth of nearly $3 billion. Winfrey's continued to kept her ideas and dreams of being a successful media mogul alive through those tough years in Milwaukee, Nashville and Baltimore. Throughout all of the harsh conditions that Winfrey was forced to live through, she knew that if she kept working or took chances to try and succeed, she could achieve anything one day. Oprah Winfrey has become one of today's most successful stories of achieving the American Dream and having the determination to keep going.
SERGE IBAKA WAS BORN on Sept. 18, 1989, to basketball-playing parents in the city of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo and home to nearly 1.5 million Africans situated along the Congo River.
It was not an easy place to grow up.
The third youngest of 18 children, Ibaka was forced to leave his hometown around the age of 8 at the start of the Second Congo War, also known as Africa’s World War. A bloody civil war that was chronicled throughout the world, more than five million people died as a result of that conflict and aftermath.
Raised by relatives during the civil war, Ibaka returned home three years later. It was then that he started to pursue his love of basketball. Ibaka's father, a member of the country's national team, introduced his son to the game.
Organized basketball in Congo was scarce.
Ibaka learned the game mostly on the streets, where courts were speckled with holes and divots and the children played in plastic sneakers; Nike, adidas or Reebok weren’t options.
But Ibaka’s raw talents could not be suppressed.
By age 16, he was playing for the club Avenir du Rail, a team that competed in an African pro circuit.
From there, Ibaka continued to climb the circuit ranks, and it wasn’t long before he landed on the radar of European scouts. In September of 2006, Pere Gallego, from the Barcelona-based sports agency U1st Sports, had a contact watching the African Junior Championships in Durban, South Africa. Ibaka was named MVP of the tournament.
Soon after, U1st Sports contacted Ibaka’s family and coordinated arrangements for him to play in Spain
Serge Ibaka
Another story of coming from nothing and achieving a dream no matter the obstacles is the story of professional basketball player Serge Ibaka. Although his story is not as well-known as others who were born in America such as Oprah, his story is just as much the American Dream as anyone else. Ibaka grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he learned to play basketball in the streets of the country during one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Africa. He was the third youngest of 18 children and his father was taken from him at a young age to fight in the war on the side of the Congo. Ibaka learned to play basketball by playing on uneven and dirt surfaces. Ibaka used his determination and drive to become successful, he created a better life for himself with hard work along with some natural born talent, and succeeded at what he wanted to accomplish.
Ibaka was scouted by many European teams while he was playing for a team that travel all across Africa to play. He was soon brought to Spain to play for their basketball team and then onto France where he gained his citizenship. After playing successfully all throughout Europe, Ibaka was drafted into the National Basketball Association in America. Ibaka has had a lengthy and successful career in the NBA and appears to be only getting better as the years go on. Being one of the brightest stars in international basketball and playing for France and the Olympics along with many other international basketball tournaments, Ibaka has achieved his dream of becoming a world famous basketball player. Ibaka has gone from being a poor citizen in a small town during one of the most bloody wars in African history to making nearly $12 million annually and playing on an international stage night in and night out. Serge Ibaka is one of the most successful stories of success of the American Dream and continues to live that dream nightly.
It was not an easy place to grow up.
The third youngest of 18 children, Ibaka was forced to leave his hometown around the age of 8 at the start of the Second Congo War, also known as Africa’s World War. A bloody civil war that was chronicled throughout the world, more than five million people died as a result of that conflict and aftermath.
Raised by relatives during the civil war, Ibaka returned home three years later. It was then that he started to pursue his love of basketball. Ibaka's father, a member of the country's national team, introduced his son to the game.
Organized basketball in Congo was scarce.
Ibaka learned the game mostly on the streets, where courts were speckled with holes and divots and the children played in plastic sneakers; Nike, adidas or Reebok weren’t options.
But Ibaka’s raw talents could not be suppressed.
By age 16, he was playing for the club Avenir du Rail, a team that competed in an African pro circuit.
From there, Ibaka continued to climb the circuit ranks, and it wasn’t long before he landed on the radar of European scouts. In September of 2006, Pere Gallego, from the Barcelona-based sports agency U1st Sports, had a contact watching the African Junior Championships in Durban, South Africa. Ibaka was named MVP of the tournament.
Soon after, U1st Sports contacted Ibaka’s family and coordinated arrangements for him to play in Spain
Serge Ibaka
Another story of coming from nothing and achieving a dream no matter the obstacles is the story of professional basketball player Serge Ibaka. Although his story is not as well-known as others who were born in America such as Oprah, his story is just as much the American Dream as anyone else. Ibaka grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo where he learned to play basketball in the streets of the country during one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Africa. He was the third youngest of 18 children and his father was taken from him at a young age to fight in the war on the side of the Congo. Ibaka learned to play basketball by playing on uneven and dirt surfaces. Ibaka used his determination and drive to become successful, he created a better life for himself with hard work along with some natural born talent, and succeeded at what he wanted to accomplish.
Ibaka was scouted by many European teams while he was playing for a team that travel all across Africa to play. He was soon brought to Spain to play for their basketball team and then onto France where he gained his citizenship. After playing successfully all throughout Europe, Ibaka was drafted into the National Basketball Association in America. Ibaka has had a lengthy and successful career in the NBA and appears to be only getting better as the years go on. Being one of the brightest stars in international basketball and playing for France and the Olympics along with many other international basketball tournaments, Ibaka has achieved his dream of becoming a world famous basketball player. Ibaka has gone from being a poor citizen in a small town during one of the most bloody wars in African history to making nearly $12 million annually and playing on an international stage night in and night out. Serge Ibaka is one of the most successful stories of success of the American Dream and continues to live that dream nightly.
Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.
Stephen King
One of the most popular and well-known authors in recent history, Stephen King was born into poverty but continued working on what he believed in and became one of the most successful horror writers of all time. He was born in Portland, Maine. At a very young age his parents split and his father moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. He spent most of his childhood there with his father however when he turned 11 his mother brought him back to Maine where he lived with his mother, brother and grandparents. His mother was struggling financially due to having to take care of Stephen's grandmother full time. His family were provided housing and very little financial support. His family struggled constantly with poverty however Stephen worked hard and finished college. By 1973 he was married and teaching in Hampden, Maine. Stephen wanted more and found that through his imagination and writing. Later in 1973 Doubleday & Co publishing accepted his first novel "Carrie" for publication which allowed him to leave teaching and write full-time.
Although Stephen King was not born into a family of wealth or a family that could help provide for him, he made a way for himself in life through his writing. He was forced through hard and trying times in his youth but realized he had goals for his life. Goals that he wished to attain and would not let his tough times and restrictions of poverty hold him back. You can achieve the American Dream through hard work and determination. That is what a person in modern day America needs if they want to achieve their dreams.
Stephen King
One of the most popular and well-known authors in recent history, Stephen King was born into poverty but continued working on what he believed in and became one of the most successful horror writers of all time. He was born in Portland, Maine. At a very young age his parents split and his father moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana. He spent most of his childhood there with his father however when he turned 11 his mother brought him back to Maine where he lived with his mother, brother and grandparents. His mother was struggling financially due to having to take care of Stephen's grandmother full time. His family were provided housing and very little financial support. His family struggled constantly with poverty however Stephen worked hard and finished college. By 1973 he was married and teaching in Hampden, Maine. Stephen wanted more and found that through his imagination and writing. Later in 1973 Doubleday & Co publishing accepted his first novel "Carrie" for publication which allowed him to leave teaching and write full-time.
Although Stephen King was not born into a family of wealth or a family that could help provide for him, he made a way for himself in life through his writing. He was forced through hard and trying times in his youth but realized he had goals for his life. Goals that he wished to attain and would not let his tough times and restrictions of poverty hold him back. You can achieve the American Dream through hard work and determination. That is what a person in modern day America needs if they want to achieve their dreams.