I Have a Dream - Shani Maxwell

Like their classmates, Lorenzo R. Smith students Shani Maxwell, Clarence Wells, Anthony Love and Lauren Johnson, have dreams--dreams of college, dreams of success, dreams for tomorrow. Participants in the fall iWriteADream workshop, they write briefly about some of their dreams and their hopes for the future, captured here on the eve of Christmas break.

I have a dream of graduating valedictorian of my eighth grade class. I have a dream of being one of the people in my family to graduate and succeed in high school. I have dreams of going to Florida A & M University, a historically black college, where I can work with individuals that are at the same stature and level of achievement as I am. When I go to college I dream of studying to become a pediatrician, surgeon or an anesthesiologist.


I dream big to have a big future. I have dreams of getting out of Hopkins Park to discover the world and to see what else it has to offer. I plan to accomplish my goals that I set for myself by finishing what I start and not giving up because dedication and perseverance are the keys in life.


I sometimes hear people say "I can't" and "I quit," but when education comes to my mind, those words are out of my vocabulary. I will not be stereotyped by becoming another black child who has to live off of welfare because I'm better than that and I know it. I will not keep the generational welfare going on in my family.


Now I've told you my dreams, so why don't you tell me about yours.