A high school senior Monty was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to become when he grew up.

He wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal that someday he would own 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 sq foot house that would sit on his 200-acre dream ranch.

He put a great deal of heart and soul into the paper and the next day he handed in his paper to his teacher. Two days later, Monty got his paper back. On the front page there was a large red F with a note that read ‘See me after class.’ Monty was shocked and went to see the teacher after class and asked ‘Why did I get an F?’

The teacher responded, ‘This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from a poor family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and large stud fees. There is no way you could ever do it. Please go back and rewrite your paper with more a realistic goal. I will re-consider your grade’.

Monty went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, ‘Look son, you have to make up your mind on this. I think it is a very important decision for you.’

After sitting with it for a week, Monty turned in the same paper and made no changes at all. He told his teacher, ‘You can keep the F and I will keep my dream’.

Monty still has that school paper now framed over his fireplace in his 4000 sq ft house in the middle of the 200-acre house ranch. A few years back, the same school teacher brought some kids to his ranch for a retreat. When the teacher was leaving, he said, ‘Monty, when I was your teacher, I was something of a dream-stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids’ dreams. Fortunately you had enough guts not to give up yours.’

Don’t let everyone steal your dream. In your journey in finding your dream and achieving your goals, you will meet many people that will tell you it is not possible to achieve what you have set for yourself. Smile at them graciously and continue on. Find the right people to surround yourself with. You will soon become the next Monty.