I have a friend named Monty Roberts who owns a horse ranch(牧马场). The last time I was there he told me his story. When he was young, his family was too poor to have a house to live in. As a result , when he was in high school, all the students were asked to write a paper about what they wanted to be and do when they grew up. That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch. He also drew a picture to show a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a beautiful farm. The next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his paper back. On the front page was a large red F. Roberts asked, "Why did I receive an F?" He teacher said, "This is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. " Then the teacher added, "If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade. "

The boy went home and thought about it for a long and hard time. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, " Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you. "Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all. He told his teacher "you could keep the F and I still keep my dream".

He tells me this story because I am sitting in his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of the 200-acre horse ranch. "I still have that school paper now. " He added, "The best part of the story is that two years ago that teacher brought 30 kids to camp out on my ranch for a week. " When the teacher was leaving, he said, Look, Monty, I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher, I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids'dreams. Luckily, you had enough gumption not to give up on yours. . "