佳作欣赏：Follow Your Dream！(ZT)

connie

Follow Your Dream

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2 k  n! V# K, h% J& LI have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch in San Ysidro.
" H) M- d6 N4 b' iHe has let me use his house to put on fund-raising events to raise money
for youth at risk programs.

The last time I was there he introduced me by saying, 'I want to tell you
why I let Jack use my house. It all goes back to a story about a young
! `" V+ `3 S7 X+ d/ oman who was the son of an itinerant horse trainer who would go from stable
( A) K# f& p* {/ o! ^9 C8 lto stable, race track to race track, farm to farm and ranch to ranch, training
horses. As a result, the boy's high school career was continually interrupted.
When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted
1 |9 l  B- z! K1 K  Dto be and do when he grew up.

'That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday
6 q! c% j; }% S" m$ x% lowning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even
drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings,
the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot
house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.

' |5 k" e4 y. V6 F4 P+ Q'He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he
' G3 A: v7 y2 I* i  Nhanded it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back.
On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after
class.'
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'The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked,
`Why did I receive an F?'

'The teacher said, `This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you.
You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources.
Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land.
8 D: j( p8 `9 B1 f1 M6 D+ F& uYou have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you'll have to
% L4 `- f! z- m9 l" @pay large stud fees. There's no way you could ever do it.’ Then the teacher
% N8 y$ ^$ v: q, K3 W$ W" oadded, `If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will
reconsider your grade.’
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'The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father
, M  ]' s4 |" v/ m) o5 Uwhat he should do. His father said, `Look, son, you have to make up your
8 n1 O( s' y& jown mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for
you.’

'Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same
paper, making no changes at all. He stated, `You can keep the F and I'll
keep my dream.''

Monty then turned to the assembled group and said, 'I tell you this story
$ P% @' b" Z5 B3 Z% v* T; vbecause you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of
my 200-acre horse ranch. I still have that school paper framed over the
fireplace.' He added, 'The best part of the story is that two summers ago
+ t4 Y/ L4 M% O0 T3 D; A$ |that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week.'
When the teacher was leaving, he said, `Look, Monty, I can tell you this
# p. H- I9 T" p. k! |5 h; ynow. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During
8 R6 [( D% z4 \  uthose years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption
# J0 j! U, d& |not to give up on yours.’'

( P7 n) S) Q# S4 lDon't let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.

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mercurybird

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