I came to this country to follow my dreams but also to ensure that my children and their children would have the opportunity to make their dreams come true. Now as I hold my first grandson Max, I know his future is brighter because of this great nation that holds so much promise for him.
When I was five years old, my mother asked me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I told her very seriously, “I want to be the head of a factory.” She started laughing. She thought it was very cute, because I was such a small boy. Some little boys want to be scientists, some engineers, some heads of state. For me, being the head of a factory was the perfect idea. I loved getting my hands dirty. I loved creating things—carving pieces of wood or cutting stone.
If I had stayed in Taiwan, perhaps I would have run a factory somewhere, but that was doubtful because our future was so constrained. You had to know someone to get a good job; you had to be connected in order to advance. It was not a meritocracy. No parent ever told a child, “You can be anything you want to be.”
Americans are known to be unique in how they encourage their children’s lofty aspirations. It is concerning to me that today we are seeing more parents expressing less hope about the future for their children. We have the great responsibility to share the American Dream with our young people and pass along an optimistic spirit. How can anyone lose hope here, the greatest nation in the world, where opportunity abounds? Though my grandchildren won’t have to journey across the globe to chase them, their dreams will have wings.
Whether my grandson plays with Legos and imagines a life building skyscrapers one day or plays race car driver with a construction box and hopes to invent a revolutionary way to travel, I will encourage his entrepreneurial spirit and I know there are no limits to what he can do with vision, determination and hard work. It is the American Dream.
