Misconception

America—the land of the free and the American dream. Every country has its own distinct culture. Because of that, there's always misconceptions and assumptions about how certain people act in a country. Before, immigrants had this ideal and glorified image of America only to come to discrimination and presumptions that led to certain people being accepted but others not as easily.

Even today, so many people think things like Americans are lazy, obese, or obsessed with guns when America is mentioned. At first, I got really annoyed that people are just surrounded by these stereotypes and stick to them as if they're completely true. But, it's really not their fault for thinking that way since  the people believing those rumors haven't seen America for themselves. We all view things differently because of our different cultures and ways of thinking.

We always have these assumptions when another country is brought up. I realized I do it a lot more than I thought, mostly because I do it so subconsciously. I remember my brother and I thinking that people in China were really rich just from looking at their clothes and their accessories. But, after seeing how real the knock-off items look at a night market, it shattered that perception I had on people walking in the streets and, instead, replaced it with this belief that people buy the fake ones.

Though assumptions can be changed, I feel like we're all so selfishly stubborn. Like, we tend to believe certain things and refuse to change our beliefs when we're verbally told it's wrong. It's only when we see things firsthand that make us finally change our perception. 

What I'm getting at is that there is no actual definition or description of what America is or should be. It always varies from the circumstances we're in that causes us to glorify, appreciate, or despise America. From what we're taught and how we're raised, those factors affect us in so many ways to what we see in something.