As one of the newest additions to the student ambassador program, I look forward to the new experiences, beliefs and ideas that I will be exposed to during the course of my time with the Broward League of Cities. Like any opportunity, I intend to make the most of it.

John F. Kennedy once said, “Not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or an equal motivation, but they should have the equal right to develop their talent and their ability and their motivation, to make something of themselves.”

America is known as the land of the free, the home of the brave and the gateway of opportunities. As home to a “colorful” variety of people, who vary upon different ages, cultures and religions, it’s no wonder why our nation has been nicknamed the “Salad-Bowl” of the world. Before the Civil War, people used to debate on whether or not the United States was merely a confederacy -an alliance of several individual states- or a nation and single collective unit. After the Civil War, it was clear that the United States was and will always be a nation; a nation that not only acknowledges its peoples differences, but whose entire existence thrives on it. As an American-Filipina whose parents came to this country to seek the American Dream, I understand the challenges that minorities face while living in this country. I see firsthand many individuals, who come from minority families, lose sight of their dream; they succumb to others opinions in fear of being shunned for their different way of thinking.

The only limitations that exist in the world are those that men and women create for themselves. Many people don’t know that they have the power to make their lives anything they want it to be. Many people don’t understand how much potential they have. Many people don’t understand that there is more to life than the challenges and disadvantages that plague their lives because they can’t imagine that they deserve something better.

Americans need to remember what America is all about. America was founded on the ideals of “unalienable rights and freedoms”. Not only does each person have the right to their own opinion, but they have the freedom to stand by it. An individual has the ability to discover what makes them their own person and what connects them to others.

By: Jocelyn Flores