FALL 2026 WINNER OF THE CROWDER LAW FIRM SCHOLARSHIP

Andrew James Hughes

Andrew is studying Media Forensics at the University of Colorado Denver. Drawing on his family's legacy of immigration, service, and perseverance, he explains how the American Dream is built incrementally, with each generation building on the sacrifices of those before them. We are inspired by his grit and wish him every success.

Read Their Essay Here:

The American Dream is often described as the belief that anyone can achieve prosperity, freedom, and success simply by being born in this nation. For me, it’s very personal and generational. This means immigrants and their children can build better lives, escape poverty and pass on greater opportunities to the next generation, like an Olympic runner passing the torch. Not every generation is promised wealth or ease, but a promise of possibility through resilience, education, family and self-reliance. This American Dream has been tested by immigration, war, economic struggles, setbacks and tragedy in my family history and yet proved attainable time and again. My family story begins with immigration and service. My great-grandmother was an Italian immigrant seeking a better future in early twentieth-century America. My grandfather married my bachan while fighting in the Korean War, bridging cultures through love and duty. Both my mother and grandmother became naturalized citizens. On my father’s side, roots trace to the Comanche people. My stepmother’s great-grandmother immigrated to California and started a Mexican restaurant—a classic success story. As a young girl, my stepmother worked there to save for college, though life interrupted those plans for her and my stepbrother. These are my family’s dreams: arriving with little and persevering. I inherited some of that foundation directly. An uncle on my grandpa’s side left me a trust to use for school. I used it, though it wasn’t the only educational dream in my quest. That experience taught me early that the path isn’t always perfect, but it still opened doors. Open doors and opportunity are the very essence of the American Dream. Later in life, I started my own business, which reignited my path back to college. I pursued my degree online, balancing work and family, and graduated with a 3.71 GPA. This fall, I am attending CU Denver to continue my education in Media Forensics there. It is a field I dream of contributing to meaningfully in a real way. The Dream faced one of its toughest tests in 2024. I was in a serious accident that could have ended my progress. Medical bills were insanely disproportionate to what any person should come out-of-pocket to pay. Uncertainty made it feel like all bets were off. Luckily, I paid into my long-term disability and stayed determined. I was able to sustain myself and keep marching forward. It is experiences like my car wreck that gave me a fresh perspective. My Dream: it does not mean life is fair or easy, but it does mean that a sense of purpose, need, and a whole lot of grit can carry you across the finish line. Further, it meant suiting up and showing up in life when the hardest moments were testing me. Today, I see the Dream living on. My son, at just 22 years old, has become a new home owner with his wife. He is working hard to earn everything he has in America – an opportunistic family man with stability. Watching him achieve this milestone with his wife reminds me that the sacrifices and efforts can be intergenerational. He can look back at his family of immigrants, soldiers, restaurant workers, and the parents who put their dreams on hold to one day see the Dream come to fruition. One could easily say my son is living the ultimate American Dream of owning land in the Land of the Free. Absolutely the American Dream is attainable because it is not a fixed destination but a direction fueled by agency. There is a multi-generational story – Italian, Japanese, Mexican roots coming together in the melting-pot of the world. This free country welcomes ambition and rewards perseverance. Setbacks like interrupted education, accidents, imperfect opportunities, and family responsibilities above all else are real. Just making it here is not enough. Moreover, so many Americans live paycheck to paycheck. What defines the outcome of the American Dream is the choice to keep working, learning, and building. The attainability of the American Dream shines through like Lady Liberty’s torch held hand to the world - each generation builds incrementally on the last. Progress feels slow or interrupted; however, my multi-generational journey proves that the Dream does not require perfect circumstances or instant success. Many lie to themselves that success takes perfect ACT and credit scores. Those are both super things to have, but the reality is beholden to all Americans when they go to the store and see all the options like ten different types of superior beef cuts, six different coffee creamers, clean high schools, public libraries, health care, religious freedoms, freedom of speech, and driver’s license is attainable to most Americans. There are innumerable examples of things Americans take for granted that so many other countries do not have luxury to ever partake in. A driver’s license: for bachan, that was a symbol of freedom and she gave it up reluctantly due to her dementia diagnosis. Furthermore, the Dream remains attainable because it rewards practical agency more than pedigree. My own path – starting a business, returning to school while raising a family, and pushing through injury – and my son’s early homeownership at 22 demonstrate that patient, measurable steps, grounded in the grit and grind of optimism, yield real results. Heck, this is not blind optimism; it is evidenced by countless families like mine who started with immigrant roots and limited resources yet achieved stability, education, and homeownership–even a new car across generations. Challenges such as economic shifts or personal tragedies are real, but the American framework of opportunity allows those who adapt and persevere to keep advancing the Dream for themselves and their children. In my definition, the American Dream is alive and well for those willing to pursue it. It has carried my family across oceans, wars, and hardships, and it continues in my education, my son’s homeownership, and the opportunities still ahead. America does not owe anyone success, but the ordinary people can achieve the extraordinary through resilience. I am living proof and so is my family.