I stepped out of the glass skyscraper and into the cold March wind that blew off the Hudson. My head pounded from the lack of sleep and food. I collapsed on a bench right next to the waterfront. I tried to digest the information I had just learned as I waited for my father to pick me up from the Jersey City office of Goldman Sachs & Co.
Today was the first part of my possible future with the Goldman Sachs corporation. The day's activities consisted of a diversity conference and information session about the company. As I looked around the conference room, I noted that many of the other guests where members of Ivy League Schools. I felt dread in the bottom of my stomach; these people were my competition.
Tomorrow, we all have interviews for summer internship positions with the company. Throughout the day we were told that being at the conference signified that we were the best and the brightest. However, I didn't feel as though I belonged. I wasn't an Ivy Leaguer. What was I doing there? I met seven of my competitors for the position that I really want. They all hailed from highly regarded schools and were probably really smart, perhaps smarter than me. The eight of us, plus numerous other of applicants who weren't present, were competing for six openings. While talking with the recruiter, I realized something that gave me hope: I may not be in an Ivy League university, but my resume nevertheless sparked Goldman Sachs' interest.
All of this I reflected upon as I sat next to the Hudson, watching the ferries and listening to the small waves as the crashed upon the pier. At one point, I stood up and leaned on the railing. I looked at the Hudson only eight feet below me and then gazed directly across to downtown Manhattan. One day, I'd be working in one of those glass towers, making money, and living the upscale, dynamic New York life that I romanticized about in my dreams. So close and yet so far.
Then for some reason, I turned to my right. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty caught my eye. I've been there many times on class trips and heard stories of the immigrants who came to this country to gain a better life and opportunity for their families, much like my family. At that exact moment, I had an epiphany that stirred my soul and brought tears to my eyes. I was looking at where it all began. Almost 100 years ago, my family came over from Italy and passed through Ellis Island before they began their quest for opportunities in America. Today, I stood less than five hundred yards away from were stood. Breathing the New York air, opportunity ahead of me. Tomorrow, I am interviewing for one of the world's most prosperous firms. Could they ever have imagined that one day their daughter would be working for a company that was at the top of the world at only twenty years old?
I have the opportunity they worked so hard to gain. At that moment, I felt so small and yet a part of something huge. I realized that whether or not I ace my interview tomorrow, I have done something special, and will eventually work in one of those glass towers across the river. I come from hardy stock that has prospered and grown. I will continue their legacy; there are no limits to how high I can fly. The American dream is real and it lives on in me.
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