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I
looked at the entry sheet and it had a question on it: What
is my dream? Underneath this it had a few suggestions
listed. These were:
·
I dream of how
to make my parents happy and my brothers and sisters proud
of me...
·
I dream of
becoming a good student, all my teachers loving me and
having a lot of friends...
·
I dream of
being a good member of our community and a good Australia...
·
I dream of
becoming a dancer, a singer, a fashion designer, a doctor, a
lawyer, a salesperson...
As soon
as I read these four statements, I thought that these
“dreams” were so, so far away from reality. Well most of
them do. They sound like something from “happy land” or
something where everything is perfect and all the
aspirations of a teenager would be fulfilled just as he or
she wishes. But don’t get me wrong. Even though I feel this
way to a certain degree, I still think that there are many
people in Australia, in my Fairfield community, that do
solemnly aim for these goals. These people have these
ideals in mind. And so many people would encourage this
sought of thinking and praise them for working hard towards
achieving it. I reckon that that’s cool. So then that means
for many people, dreams like those ones are realistic and
can be made and achieved. People who have these dreams,
which were mentioned above and on the entry sheet, are most
probably emotionally stable and have a healthy and secure
family and social life. Yet, that is just another mere
assumption because I know that many people have had a real
hard life and have gone through many bad, traumatising
experiences. But “against all odds” they manage to keep on
working hard and they do all they can to making their dreams
come true despite adversity. So I admire these people for
that. And on the other hand, just because you might be
emotionally stable or have a healthy family and social life,
it doesn’t necessarily mean that you would set these types
of dreams either. But to me personally I believe that they
seem a little unreal to me. Now I am going to explain why I
think that the four suggestions mentioned before were so far
from reality. Or at least they weren’t something that your
everyday high school student would dream for.
I am a
high school student and I don’t know anyone in my grade who
would have any dreams like that. I think that the teenagers
have more “short term dreams” like getting to the very top
of “the popularity ladder” and being liked by everyone,
always being included, superficial stuff like that, but it
is important to every adolescent and that’s true, it is not
an assumption. In general, high school students don’t make
dreams like those. But rather they have “cynical and
twisted lives that revolve around their self-appearance or
what was on TV last night”, said someone I know. Now
remember that I am speaking in general terms. That may
sound harsh but it is so factual that it’s not funny.
Now I
have always had it easy. I think that my life is pretty much
“healthy and secure”. I have a good family, friends to
socialise with, a good life. However, even though I have
these things, I still cease to make dreams like those four
that were listed. I guess when you have them already you
don’t need to dream. But instead we (meaning my friends and
I) “dream” about what we are going to do on the weekend.
Like I
mean offcourse you think about the future and even plan
ahead, but “unforseen circumstances” always arise and you
never know what’s gonna happen next. For instance I know
that I always wonder what sort of occupation I would have in
the future, yet I’m still baffled. Whenever anyone asks me
“what do you want to be in the future”, I would reply, “I
don’t know, I just don’t know”. I remember a school teacher
telling me that she didn’t know she wanted to become a
teacher and she never dreamt of being one, it just happened.
She said that she just “followed the yellow brick road”. Yet
some people know exactly what they want even since childhood
and they go through with it. Their goals and dreams are
fulfilled. I don’t think that I’m one of those people. But
even if I was to “follow the yellow brick road”, it would
only be sensible to know my destination or at least have an
idea.
So
then what is My Dream?
Well
you know when you dream about something, and you know that
it will never come true, but you enjoy dreaming anyway. And
then sometimes you dream and put so much effort into
something and hope, and even have a chance that it might be
fulfilled. Well I feel like that sometimes. I have a very
wide imagination and that makes it a lot easier to dream.
Going back to the entry form and under the four suggestions,
there is a sentence in bold letters and it said:
Share
your dream with others and make it come true.
So my
friend dared me to write this, and it is true, so I will: I
know it sounds "pathetic and even desperate" (that’s meant
to be funny), but I dream of winning one of those cash
prizes or being one of the top twenty essays to be chosen by
the judges and then have my essay posted on the Internet.
If I win one of those cash prizes, then I would give a part
of my prize to my friend who has been working very hard
towards buying a drum kit – all those shifts at Kentucky
Fried Chicken, and saving up all those weeks, they even got
robbed when he was working there. Then with the rest of the
money I would probably buy a gift for all my family
members. Then I would save a little money in the bank and
wait for interest to accumulate. Then I will chuck a
barbecue for my friends because they supported me in this
writing competition.
If I am
one of the top 20 essay writers, then I would go on the
Internet for like a week, and admire my essay. I would show
this essay to everyone I knew and boast as I look at the
computer screen with pride. But not too much cause then
I’ll be too cocky and no one will want to be around you any
more.
Lamentable, isn’t it?
But if
I were serious about what my dreams really were then I would
have to say that I dream of never ever giving into illegal
drugs like heroin, which ruins so many lives each year –
like high school students. And my dreams would also be to
never give into the addiction of the cigarette and harmful
stuff like that. I notice that the moral standards of the
people in this world are degenerating so rapidly, and that
is part of the reason why I felt those four dreams written
above and on the entry sheet were so unreal. What was “very
bad and a real serious crime twenty years ago, is now
probably considered to be normal today. So I dream that I
will always uphold good moral standards and principals
through the guidance of responsible ones. And then teach
these to my children and hope that they will understand the
importance of this. I also dream of being a happy person or
a happier person. I don’t know exactly what would make me a
happier person yet. But I know that when I am happy, then
those other dreams like making your parents and family proud
of you or being a good member of the community, will come
naturally. Or it might even be the other way around. Maybe
you have to make dreams like those four, which I’ve written
so much about and what I considered to be unrealistic at the
beginning of the essay, but it doesn’t seem so unreal any
more. Then if they come true you might be happier.
And I
guess that the purpose of this writing competition in itself
is to get people to make these sorts of dreams for
themselves. From now and into the future. So I guess I do
have meaningful dreams, dreams I intend to fulfil and dreams
for the future, not just mundane or superficial ones. |
