It was a cold morning, and Eduardo Ortega was nervous. He held a large envelope. In it was his dream.
"This is everything," he said. "I've worked for this since I was a young boy."
Eduardo remembered the long hours working in the fields, picking strawberries and beans. After the workday, his tired friends drank coffee or slept. Eduardo studied, read, and wrote poetry and short stories. Although he missed many classes, he became the school's best student.
One school year, Eduardo wrote an essay (文章) and won a prize - a flying trip to San Francisco. As he flew, he felt free from his life of hard work in the fields. He promised himself not to return to that life. He loved to fly.
This morning, Eduardo caught the school bus and went to school with the envelope. He walked past his classmates and sat down at his desk. He opened the envelope and began reading the letter inside. It was the answer to his application to the state university. It was also the answer to the beginning of his dream of becoming a pilot.
Even though Eduardo worked to help his family, his father always encouraged him to go to school. So, while he worked, he also studied.
Eduardo knew that his dream was his father's dream, too. His father was a smart man, but he was too poor to go to college. He loved to read, but never had time, because he worked long hours.
Now, as Eduardo read the words, "Congratulations... you have been accepted," he knew that his dream was not lost. One day, he would be a pilot, flying every day to all the exciting places in the world.
