Mosaics
Wake Up to Your World of DreamsWednesday, March 21, 2012 By Jo Kang and Emmy Zhou
When we first talk about dreams, we can’t avoid thinking of the images we have seen in our minds last night. However, here we understand dreams as a condition or achievement you long for, something you are chasing relentlessly. One of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, Euripides said, “The wisest men follow their own direction.” That is the power of dreaming: it guides you to what you want. Everyone has a dream, no matter if it is common or ambitious: some want to live peacefully throughout their lives, while some want to become billionaires or world-class celebrities. Moreover, some people change their dreams as they grow up. To examine the "American Dream" a bit more closely, we surveyed a group of Stuart Hall sixth graders and a group of seniors. When asked about their dreams for the future, the sixth graders surprisingly had very specific dreams even though they are the youngest ones on the Staunton campus. The survey shows that 33 percent of sixth graders want to be professionals in fields that require advanced degrees for their job, for instance teachers, meteorologists, or engineers. Students who want to be medical doctors ranked second with 22 percent; most of these students answered that they want to be veterinarians. Students who want to be artists ranked third with 16 percent; these professions include actors, singers, fashion designers and photographers. Interestingly, there were only 10 percent who answered with abstract ideas about their dreams such as wanting to be rich or happy. Seventy-two percent said they have never changed their dream. For those who had changed their dream, their reasons include not being interested in the dream anymore, their dreams being unlikely to lead to a job, or their dreams being unrealistic. When the senior class responded to the same survey, only one student out of twenty-nine had not decided her dream, and twenty students have a specific dream. Moreover, most of their dreams are surprisingly practical, such as being a physical therapist, contributing to the environment and a cleaner world, or becoming the captain of an Alaskan Crab Boat with a “luscious beard.” Seniors do not pay much attention to how much money they make; they just follow their interests and do their best to elevate themselves and contribute to society. Four students have an understandable but vague dream: living happily or making a lot of money. The other four students focus on their current situation: waiting for acceptance notices from colleges. So they dream of graduating from high school and being accepted into their favorite university. Approximately half of them changed their dreams as they grew up because some realized that their dreams were unachievable. Others just found a new direction to pursue. According to this dream survey, regardless of age, almost all sixth graders and seniors think about their dreams very seriously. In addition, both groups of respondents who have changed their dreams have similar reasons. They realized that their abilities are limited and that the world is not as beautiful and simple as they had expected when they were young. Although it may be true that we should pursue our future with optimism, both six graders and seniors answered that they have to adapt themselves by considering society’s reality after graduating. There was one result that went beyond our common sense. Oddly, the seniors tend to pay less attention to how much money they could make (than the sixth graders), instead tending to pay more attention to what they wanted to do in terms of life styles: friendships, families, and marriages. Our dreams are always changing: we can only say what they are at a particular moment. However, we should never give up our hopes and dreams. The most important thing to remember is to have confidence. As Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” |