A Dream Deferred

"What Happens to a Dream Deferred?

Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?

Or fester like a sore--then run?

Does it stink like rotten meat?

Or crust and sugar over

like syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags like a heavy load?

Or does it explode?"

Langston Hughes "A Dream Deferred"  http://www.cswnet.com/~menamc/langston.htm

By now we all know our fate about the Google Teacher Academy. Over 200 brave educators poured their hearts into videos and applications, spending hundreds of hours over the last month to get a shot at one of the best professional development opportunities out there, not to mention the honorable title of "Google Certified Teacher." Only 50 could make it. I was one of the 150 who did not.

This is where Mr. Langston Hughes comes in. I consider myself ambitious. My unabashed goal in my career is to be the best educator that ever lived. Sure, big lofty goal, but why not aim high?  I set my sights on the Google Teacher Academy as a "mini-dream" that would be a great boon early in my career to my over goal. But it did not happen. The dream was, to be completely original and boring, deferred. It has to wait. So what happens to this dream, this ambition to be the best? Because I had a set back, does it stink? Explode? Fester? Feel Heavy?  I think it really could be all of the above. 

It hurts to lose. In my personal life, I lost a lot at baseball, struck out socially in school, and bobbled my way through a lot of job applications. I've failed a lot. But that is what drives me. It is a chip on my shoulder. Not an attitude, but a voice in my head telling me I need to work harder, do more, push ahead. They might be more talented, have more experience, whatever. I can outwork them. I have to. 

So what happens to a dream deferred? Mine burns within, waiting to be quenched the only way it can - by reaching my goals. What about you?