NOVEMBER 12, 2025
VOLUME 9, ISSUE 2
Dissent and Discussion
Need a sip or snack?
Bridging Communities
It's time to lock in....
A Golden Effort See a 25-foot Golden Gate Bridge walking around campus on Halloween? Two sophomores explain how they pulled it off.
An assembly about antisemitism draws mixed responses from the student body.
Newly opened Sidewalk Juice offers fresh smoothes, pressed juices, and acai bowls.
A look inside the partnership bewteen Nueva and Peninsula Bridge, an education non-profit based in the Bay Area.
Nueva needs to put in place measures to counter unauthorized AI use.
News // Page 4
Culture // Page 6
Features // Page 7
Opinion // Page 12
Entertainment // Page 17
Across generations, families within the Nueva community are questioning whether the American Dream still exists— and if it does, what it should mean today. By: Alexis C. & Neel G.
DESIGN BY: Anwen Chen
ILLUSTRATION: Anwen C. / The Nueva Current
Over the past several years, the idea of the American Dream has faced renewed scrutiny. Economic uncertainty, political polarization, and widening inequality have challenged traditional notions of upward mobility and self-made success. What once symbolized opportunity and progress now looks different to many Americans—especially for families whose roots trace back to immigration stories and promises of a better life. Within the Nueva community, students, parents, and teachers are reflecting on how that dream has evolved. For some, it remains a symbol of hope and perseverance. For others, it has become a reminder of both the barriers that persist and the new challenges emerging in today’s world. WHERE THE DREAM CAME FROM When alumni parent Sara Espinoza first came to the United States, she carried the same hope as millions of others: that hard work and perseverance would lead to stability, opportunity, and a better life for her children. She emigrated from Peru in 1992, pursuing a career in STEM and seeking to escape the violent political unrest caused by the Shining Path,
THE NUEVA SCHOOL
a far-left guerilla group active during her adolescence. Decades later, she wonders whether that promise still holds. “The United States gave me everything and more than what I expected. Hopefully, we’ll revert from this authoritarian administration,” Espinoza said. “We have to be careful, because our democracy is so fragile. We have to protect it. Because right now, the land of the free is no longer the land of the free.” For generations, the “American Dream” has symbolized upward mobility and selfmade success. Today, amid rising inequality, political polarization, and shifting social values, many Americans—immigrants and lifelong residents alike—are reconsidering what that dream means, and whether it’s still attainable. Psychology teacher Amy Hunt defines the American Dream as a narrative that promises that hard work will produce social mobility and economic stability. “The American Dream provides a framework for people to think that they have agency in their lives, where if they take actions and expend effort, their world will change,” Hunt said. “In the U.S., there's a collectively held narrative that says if you work hard, you will get these
success markers, particularly financial gain.” The term “American Dream” entered the national lexicon during the Great Depression, coined by historian James Truslow Adams to capture the ideal that a better life would be possible for anyone in America, regardless of birth or status. Tested through an era of economic uncertainty, the American Dream persisted through the Great Depression into the postwar era, becoming associated with opportunity and growth. Many parents, including Peter Lee, echo that belief in opportunity for upward mobility and innovation. Lee moved to the United States while working at Samsung, a Korean company; he helped set up a new Samsung office and team in the Bay Area, and worked there for several years. “You want to live where [people] strive for innovation, strive for new things— that's most important. And I think America is still chasing, chasing the dream of being something new, doing something new,” Lee said. “In America, because you start from the clear, fresh ground, you have more opportunities to be successful. As long as you've been diligent and continue to envision whatever you want
131 E. 28TH AVE., SAN MATEO, CA 9��03
THENUEVACURRENT.COM
to be, I think it's a fair playing ground for everybody else in the world.” Like Lee, who works in technology, parent Giovanni Iachello was also drawn to the United States by opportunity and innovation. Iachello immigrated from Italy as a young adult, seeking to further his education and build a career in technology. “There's a lot of opportunity: I got to study here, I got a fellowship,” Iachello said. “[Living here] opened up a whole set of possibilities, from a professional standpoint, that I would never have had in Italy.” For parent Mark Choey, the American Dream comes down to one word: freedom. His father, an artist, immigrated from Singapore with Choey’s mother and uncle to pursue his passion at the Art Students League of New York. “I watched my father and uncle pursue their individual artistic careers by charting their own paths —whether it was starting their own retail stores or pursuing their art careers in exhibitions or private shows: doing what they wanted, when they wanted, and how they wanted,” Choey said. CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
@THENUEVACURRENT