- against\ the\ stream
- • (swim) against the current• (swim) against the streamv. phr.To do the opposite of what most people want to do; go against the way things are happening; struggle upstream.
The boy who tries to succeed today without an education is swimming against the stream.
Словарь американских идиом. — СПб., Изд-во "Лань". Оригинал: A.Маккей, М.Т.Боткер, Дж.И.Гейтс. 1997.