AMERICA

By Becky Motteram

If you talked to anybody outside of the United States, the chances are they would say something like "America is wonderful," or "To be able to live in the US is like a dream."  These statements are not at all false.  As an American, I believe I am extremely lucky to live in the United States.

When our forefathers first came to America, they thought it was a "New World."  Compared to the lifestyle they had before, it probably was a New World.  There were no houses, and the climate was really different, which meant they had to adapt to all the changes.

With help from the Native American Indians, they were able to build log cabins and later on, houses.  They were also able to plant such foods as corn, and raise animals such as geese and turkeys.  When harvest was over, they had a feast, which is known to us as Thanksgiving.  These people had worked hard to make their lives better for themselves and their later generations.

Even now we are trying to make our lives better.  Our country can support many different sources of food and energy.  We can grow crops all over the United States, and many of the crops are different from each other.  We can mine precious metals out of the earth in various parts of the U.S.  We have trade with a lot of different foreign nations and we have money to spend for research on nuclear, solar, and wind energy.  We need this sort of research so that we know how to make energy and use it to our advantage when fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, run short.

We have a well-organized government most of the time, and we consider ourselves one of the leading industrial nations in the world.  This self-pride gives us hope and determination.  With this, our country believes that we can do anything.  I think this self-confidence is what makes us, as a country, the best in what we do.