I Have A Dream by Taryn

I Have A Dream by Taryn - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

I would love to sit down with Martin Luther King Jr and have dinner with him because I have quite a few questions. One might pause and wonder what questions a seventeen year old white girl might have for Mr. King. My question have nothing to do with the color of our skin. I wonder where Mr. King found his motivation to continue to fight everyday for his rights. Lately, I have been struggling to find the motivation to continue to work hard and wake up the next morning. But like Martin Luther King Jr., I too have a dream.
I’ve had a dream since I was in first grade that I would attend a huge university, get a prestigious job making lots of money, and have a happy family. I have grown up in a family where alcohol and drugs are the norm. I am the only one in my household who has not been taken over by one of these monsters. Instead, I have decided to work hard in my AP, Essence, and honor classes to earn the best grades possible so I can attend the big university that I’ve always dreamed of. For seventeen years I have carried so much weight on my shoulders from my family, school, and more recently, my job. For seventeen years I have remained fairly stable, but as I approach the age eighteen, I have been struggling to figure out where my lack of motivation has come from. So, I have a few questions for Mr. King.
Mr. King, how did you manage to stay motivated while thousands tried to keep you quiet for over ten years? Recently, I have lacked the motivation to continue living life. I have many people try to pull me down and stop me, but I have come out on top. Mr. King came out on top every time. I have read Mr. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail and I wonder how a man could sit in silence for hours on end, let alone write such a detailed letter. Mr. King let the silence empower him, which leads me to my next question. Mr. King, how did you ignore thousands of people’s ridicule to pursue your dream? Some days I find it so hard to ignore people who have so much hate in the world and in the person who I am trying to be today. Many of my former friends will gossip about me and call me nasty names. Sometimes my family will tell me I’m not good enough. The negative comments make life so hard sometimes, and I just need to know how to get past all of the hate to pursue my dream.
Sitting down at dinner with Martin Luther King Jr. would be a very valuable experience for me and I believe I would learn a lot from the kind of man he was. I hope that one day I can walk through life with as much passion and motivation as Mr. King did. I hope one day I can say I have accomplished my dream too.