I was in the gym (because of bball practice), and read for a whole 2 1/2 hours in one sitting, and I only managed to get through 30 pages! :/ But in the text I did manage to read this week, I read that Ken Lay, the CEO of Enron, came from a poor family. Sometimes things got really bad for him financially, to the point when, on Thanksgiving, "...Ruth-the spark plug of the household who delighted in nothing more than shipping up family feasts- could only afford to serve luncheon meat".
I was really surprised by this. Ken Lay, the guy who got rich with his company (at least temporarily) through his initially genius moves, came from a poor family, from a very modest beginning. Yeah, he messed up later in his career. But at least he managed to get to a place that he considered great, and that made everyone else around him sit up and take notice. And he's not the only one. Abraham Lincoln, Oprah Winfrey, J.K. Rowling, all these famous people, came from poor or disadvantaged backgrounds. And this got me thinking.
If these people, unfortunate enough to have less than what most of us have now, were able to be successful, to make it to the big time...can it happen to all of us? Why can't we be great? It sounds cheesy, but after all, we've been through a lot. We're sophomores in high school: survivors of AP World tests, English TDQ's, crazy schedules, sleepless nights. And I see us in the halls, somehow still smiling, laughing, or even crying, but managing to live life to its best. When you think about it, we've done a lot of things in the 15 to 16 year span that marks our lives.
All of these accomplishments show all of us for the brave, smart, determined, accomplished, surviving kind of people that we are. In my opinion, as ordinary people, we're pretty darn amazing. So here's my thought to you. Whatever you've wanted in life, whatever you've dreamed of doing, do it. Get out there and reach for it, because we're all capable, whether we believe it or not. Like for all those eminent people mentioned above, success might not come in the way you think it might, but its probably around the corner somewhere! Go for it. Seriously. If they can do it, why can't we? And tell me. What is your dream? :)