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Follow Your Dream4 b; V0 ]8 k2 K! c6 \8 @* \
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I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro.
( D: X6 |# u: T* N y6 l- I# i8 bHe has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money
% c+ o% g0 \% |" b" ?0 u ^# a8 F5 yfor youth at risk programs. # v2 ?4 e5 X- x" C
& v0 ^5 z/ P5 \ H+ o( c! oThe last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you
* R# A3 h4 w) K: Xwhy I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
. q$ A4 F, U; n9 _ Z: q uman who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable 5 W( w3 { R' _3 t$ t. A0 ~
to stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
( G: o: E0 H; K4 L5 xhorses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted. : r9 H# v9 O8 _* C9 K- C
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted
+ Z! y. q; S C2 m& S; Hto be and do when he grew up.
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5 Y/ o& M$ ?: Q5 u* e' y'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday 4 O/ S6 p2 l; z `
owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even , B/ \3 E2 d0 [8 z2 z
drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, 5 {- H- c7 y \7 h! `
the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot ( {* V4 F- I: |, H( L) j
house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.
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'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he # d( f4 Z- i1 C9 v5 p Z- n
handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. 5 ~ W* d$ w m
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after
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'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
8 @& Q+ n! R+ @, x`Why did I receive an F?' " {: f+ ]2 z6 g
3 I5 x1 k9 Y* B/ o2 Q' S& }'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
: B& u8 }4 O# W5 d: h0 \# x! AYou have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources.
, D8 q' a% G- Q; J- M1 `" MOwning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
$ {, Z- S% v/ Y& T1 P/ DYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to + N8 @5 m9 z9 H/ J
pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher 2 c* N# V2 l1 R6 M3 @
added, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will
; W: \+ x& n- \; F5 S, _% nreconsider your grade.’ # ^* X/ @4 _/ w% ]. g3 \+ T2 w
. j3 ~# z/ U! d+ b7 w6 I'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father 6 F9 Y9 V5 i8 h" r. t o6 r
what he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your
+ B/ x4 Y" h9 r0 z+ B8 B5 Vown mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for - X% {8 |: _: w, o( J3 J
you.’
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( m% a1 |3 b; X; J6 i4 n+ i'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same
. p; e( R9 q, F$ C+ D! r m" e, Vpaper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
/ C" Z7 p' G5 L: H4 }keep my dream.'' - ^% c8 s9 V5 o+ z
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Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story
7 n7 H4 ~ U. X1 z1 \: Pbecause you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of
: o* c) D2 O, nmy 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the , i: s. A; \/ G
fireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago 3 v5 p/ m3 n# Y
that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.' E8 Q6 E# {( \; j! T8 ]5 P7 j
When the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
2 p; P u) M6 i/ i' hnow. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During - X' w3 p5 C# ]" R4 ^7 C& l
those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption 7 L* d% D6 S: S* k$ g
not to give up on yours.’' 7 j3 O7 n- `; J2 H
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Don't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what. |
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