Optimist International Essay Contest, First Place Winner!

All children have dreams. These start early, such as being astronauts and firemen. As each child grows up, their dreams start to change. This process continues throughout life, but not every dream is achieved. So how do dreams one has lead them to success? There are three main components of success built off of a dream. First is belief in the idea. The second is vision, the ability to see the fullness of your dream. The third is determination, to make the dream come true. When dreams are mentioned, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. may come to mind. He was a man who died because of his dreams and his beliefs in them. His dream was to see equal rights for all mankind. On April 18, 1959, before a march for integrated schools, Dr. King said, “Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater notion of your country, a finer world to live in.” Although he was killed before seeing the fullness of his success, Dr. King has obviously had a huge effect on the United States, even the world. It was only through his dream and the dreams of others that equality came into the United States.

The second component of success is vision. One dreamer who has had great success by following his dreams is Walt Disney. His whole life was spent in pursuit of what others said was impossible. By pursuing his dream he created the first full length animated movie, the first color animated movie, the first “talkie” animated movie, along with hundreds of other accomplishments. In an interview, Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” Because Walt Disney followed his dream, he created a legacy seen decades later. His is a household name. His name is synonymous with movies and child entertainment, all because he believed in his dream.

The final component is determination. Figures like Jackie Robinson or Helen Keller may pop into your head. However, someone with just as much determination and an even bigger dream was Eleanor Roosevelt. Along with being First Lady, Eleanor was a large woman’s rights advocate. She was a member of the American Red Cross and served as the history teacher of a private school that she owned. She opened a furniture factory that later grew to become a multi-product factory with pewter and woven products. She is quoted as having said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt achieved more than most people could start to believe, just by following after her dreams.

Langston Hughes beautifully personified dreams in his poem, “Dreams.”
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

What Hughes is saying is that without dreams, life is barren, bleak, and not worth living. At the start of this New Year, millions of people made resolutions about what they want to change in their lives. What are resolutions if not goals? What are goals if not the effort of fulfilling a dream?

The French writer Anatole France was born into poverty but later grew into one of the greatest French writers and poets of all times. Referring to his success, he said, “To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe.” The world is full of writers and politicians, of teachers and lawyers, all so diverse that only one connection can be made. They are all dreamers. While not all of these people have found great success or wide public renown, each individual is important. Each person is the very quintessence of dreams and each one is unique. Success is the measure of what is accomplished by an individual to “make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, a finer world to live in. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)” Every person affects the world in a unique, individual way. No matter what is accomplished, no matter what is achieved, it all begins with a dream.