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Flowing Dreams

Kawaguchi Yoko (Toyama National College of Technology)

If you have a dream, what would you do to make it come true? What do you need to do first?　27 years ago, a 12-year-old boy wrote down his dream in an essay, titled “My Dream”. It began like this. “My dream is to become a top-class baseball player. To make this dream come true..., I will have to practice very hard.…” You know this boy as Ichiro. Ichiro Suzuki made this dream come true when he graduated high school, and he has been a world-class player for 20 years. He certainly practiced hard and made much effort to be such a great athlete, but what I want to focus on today is his essay. To clarify his dream by writing it down was the beginning of his many achievements.

Today, I want to tell you this: expressing your dream to people around you is an effective start to make your dream come true. To express it, of course you can write an essay like Ichiro did, or even post it on Twitter or Facebook, but what I recommend is to talk about your dream directly to your family, friends and teachers. What actually happens when you tell your dream to your friend? Here is my story.

One day this spring, at driving school, I met an old friend from junior high school. It had been a long time since we saw each other. As he was entering university soon, I asked him what major he would take, and what he wanted to do after. Then he started telling me about his dream. His dream was to be a pediatrician, a doctor for children, and open his own clinic. I was shocked. He expressed his dream so clearly and passionately, and I was really impressed.

What made me so impressed? Well, on the way home, I was thinking about it over and over again. Then I realized that his positive energy, excitement, motivation, and hope towards the future moved me. His dream flowed to me from the sparkle in his eyes. This talk had a powerful influence on me. It made me think “I want to cheer him on and support his dream,” and it gave me an opportunity to think about what my dream is, and also inspired me to stand here and give a speech to you today. As for him, by telling his dream to me, he felt a kind of “good pressure”. Once he expressed the dream, it became a real, clear dream, not just inside of him. Also, by expressing the dream, he can get people who can cheer him on and help him. Expressing your dream, letting it flow to others can motivate them like he did with me, and at the same time, grow your own potential to achieve your dream.

Since I was motivated, I started to express what I want to do with my family, friends and teachers, and believe it or not, one of my dreams is actually coming true.

One day before summer vacation, I saw an advertisement for an NGO group to volunteer at a summer camp to help children. I was interested in joining the camp, but unfortunately because of a time conflict, I couldn’t go. Then a few weeks later, during my internship, I was talking with another university student. She told me that she had done some volunteer work before, so I asked her if she knew anything about that NGO group. What a surprise! She volunteered for the same group. Then she gave me the email address of the organizer, so I could apply as a volunteer. It’s just a start but I joined a one-day volunteering event in November. Although being a volunteer seems to be a small dream to achieve, because I did not give up telling people about it, it is starting to come true for me.

Now if you have a dream in your heart, what would you do? Yes, let’s tell all the people around you after this speech contest and keep doing it. Also, listen to their dreams and support them. Enjoy the process and always appreciate the help you get. That will be a big step to make your dream come true.

Before finishing this speech today, let me express my biggest dream to you. My dream is to be an English teacher and give my students fun and creative classes. Many teachers have had great impact on me. Their classes were always fun with many ideas coming from their own experiences. So I will broaden my experiences and study hard to be a teacher who can develop the students’ creativity.

Ichiro ended his essay with these words, “I will keep trying hard from now on. If I could become a top-class player, I would invite the people who had helped me to the games in which I would play.” That promise was part of his dream, as his biggest dream was to become a professional baseball player.

Finally, I’m going to make you a promise today. Should I achieve my dream, please remember me. And if your school is looking for an English teacher in a few years, I will work hard every day for you and your students.