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American Dream English Easy

by Ted

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it took 15 months hundreds of interviews

and innumerable tears to find a job

after I from Clemson you know

why it was not because I was not

qualified or that I did not have the
00:35
right skills it was not even because I

had a very thick Indian accent when

I came to America it was only because I

was not a citizen of the United States

of America I came to the United States

to pursue my master's degree in

environmental in 2010 but

what attracted me to this country

was the idea of the American Dream that

glamorous dream of having a six-figure

salary a luxurious car a big house and a

whole lot more I vividly remember

receiving an admin letter from the

Clemson's graduate but even

before I could begin my

achievement with my family and my

friends I hustled to get my visa
application process started because


without a student visa

I would not be even allowed inside the

country so the pursuit of my American

dream started with a student visa and a

loan of $30,000 a small price to pay I

thought to achieve the American dream so

with the visa

I came to Clemson I did well in my

classes

I even work for free when my adviser did

not have the funds to pay me my masters

theses international recognition

but after graduation I had several

interviews and I thought I did well in

them but there was one question that

always failed me are you a citizen of

the United and as soon as I

revealed my citizenship status

I sensed rejection I was denied the job

you see after completing my studies on
02:54
my student visa I now needed an
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employment visa to be able to work in
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the US and this visa needed to be
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sponsored by the company that would hire
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me and after the economic crisis many
03:10
companies had adopted a no work visa
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policy but I wasn't going to give up
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this easily after all the u.s.
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immigration system was designed to
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attract talented and hardworking
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individuals finally after a year of
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interviews cold calls and unsolicited
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job applications a company a job
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to me they even agreed to sponsor my
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visa I accepted the offer without
03:44
batting an there was just one
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problem though this job was in a
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different City when I mentioned this to
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my husband he screamed freedom
04:01
now don't be so excited this just means
04:05
that you'd be doing your own dishes we
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were newlyweds at the time and living
04:12
away from each other was not going to be
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easy but we both agreed this was
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important to me and my American dream
04:22
but my American Dream was shattered in
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the week at my new job despite
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working long hours I was yelled at for
04:33
leaving work early I was marked for
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being a woman in the man's world I was
04:39
often reminded why I was given this job
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on one occasion I worked midnight
04:47
to meet a project deadline the following
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morning at a team meeting my boss threw
04:55
the project file
04:56
pooja if you worked on this piece of
05:00
until midnight then shame on you
05:02
for being an engineer I froze in my
05:07
chair it was things look
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I I had tears in my eyes
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I ran to the ladies room and cried my
05:18
eyes out but a few minutes I
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washed my face and walked right back
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into the room this was one of the many
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occasions when I just wanted to quit and
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go back working in the company for
05:39
two years my boss called me into his
05:42
office
05:43
pooja you're fired
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you would think in that moment my
05:51
reaction would be of shock pain or anger
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instead I walked out of his office took
06:02
my belongings and left as I was driving
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home I myself what had I gained by
06:14
chasing this American dream a mounting
06:17
loan a life away from my family and my
06:21
a job that I did not even like
06:27
in the weeks that followed I felt so
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rejected by this country and the dream
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it had promised that I decided it was
06:36
just not worth chasing this American
06:38
dream I questioned my decision of moving
06:42
from India to the United States growing
06:46
up in India it was common to pursue a
06:49
degree in engineering or medicine
06:51
because it was considered prestigious it
06:54
was a safe choice and everyone was doing
06:57
it that was the Indian dream many of us
07:04
liked what we did some very few had the
07:09
courage to abandon their degrees and
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follow their dreams but most of us were
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left confused and unsure our
07:17
future but America for me was going to
07:22
be a different place this was the land
07:25
of opportunities possibilities and
07:27
taking risks and yet I was measuring the
07:33
success of my American dream on in terms
07:36
of the I was and not
07:40
my personal goals and choices I realized
07:45
the American Dream is not a package deal
07:49
of having a job a car and a house it is
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about making intentional choices for
07:57
yourself and taking ownership of those
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choices
08:03
being close to my family waiting for the
08:07
right job and working at a
08:12
company that respected me was some of
08:15
the choices I made since losing my job
08:18
and the results just followed naturally
08:22
three years since I stand before you
08:24
sharing my journey today I'm leading
08:28
multiple projects at my new job I even
08:32
got a transfer to the company's world
08:34
headquarters in California with a new
08:37
visa and I'm running the house
08:40
single-handedly while my husband
08:42
completes his graduate degree today I'm
08:46
living my American dream of my choices
08:51
so my fellow dreamers I you
08:55
all to share the pursuit of these
09:01
package dreams and begin to live your
09:06
dream of your choices because your dream
09:10
is the American dream
09:13
thank you
09:14
[Applause]
09:23
you
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