As Dream Comes True

We all have dreams. Yet so few of us fulfill them. Often, a dream dies as quickly as it is born because we lack the confidence to keep it. When I was old enough to understand the realities of life, I realized that society puts a high value on youth, beauty and intellectual achievement. This discovery gave me some idea to develop my dream.

I know beauty is something I will never have. So I didn't dream of becoming beautiful. But I didn't see it as something bad because it forced me to concentrate my energy to develop my other qualities. What people see in the handicapped is only their appearance of being handicapped. People are not impressed with the ability that lies inside every handicapped person.

My dream was simple. I dreamed of becoming a typist when I was in secondary school. I always hoped to be able to master the typewriter. This magic machine would be my passport to getting a job. I come from a poor family of five children and the best that my parents could give us was a good school education. But, of course, this achievement proved to be no sure guarantee of getting a job in an office. The employment field was a highly competitive place. It gave not only keen competition to a handicapped job-seeker but also the unfriendly treatment from the physically strong and healthy. They see the handicapped as the back row of society.

However, I refused to sit in the back row. I took a brave step to break through the wall that isolates the handicapped. I decided to take a course in typing run by the government. I filled in the detailed information in the application form and wrote down typing as my training course. When I handed over the form to the interviewer, she looked at me then moved her eyes to my body. She left and discussed with another member of the staff at the center. I had decided that it must be typing, or nothing. When the interviewer returned, she advised me to change my choice from typing. "Why don't you take up dressmaking so you can earn while at home? You cannot hope to compete with college graduates," she said. "Offices prefer to hire smartly dressed, pretty girls with beautiful hands," she added.

I knew I didn't have those qualifications. But I was determined to stay with my choice of typing, "I will be a really good typist," I told her. She accepted me. The typing instructor admitted me into his class to give me one month as a trial period to find out whether I could really handle the course well. I had tried my very best to master the machine. I was allowed to continue with the course after the trial period.

On the fifth month of the six-month course, I was called to the office of the chief instructor. I was one of five students in our class who was chosen to do some copy typing from the files of the department. I knew I would be very efficient. While I was working hard on the typewriter, taking every care to be neat and fast, my other companions spent their time talking and reading. I finished half of the work given to all of us.

More work came to me after this test. I could see quite clearly the way to achieving my dream. I was taken on as one of the typists in one of the offices immediately after my graduation. I did not mind starting at the bottom of the ladder. Being a typist was just the beginning of the climb. Having achieved one dream, I set out to achieve others. I worked and studied at the same time, which was no easy task. But the sacrifice proved rewarding.

Overcoming one challenge after another gives me self-confidence. The challenges help strengthen my courage and build up my positive attitude toward life. All these elements are necessary for the dream-come-true formula. Dreamers should keep reaching out for their dreams, no matter what the pain, until they get what they want in life. When they are settled comfortably, they can sit back and tell the world. I did it alone.