Monty wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of someday owning a horse ranch. He wrote about his dream in great detail and he even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of all the buildings, the stables and the track. Then he drew a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house that would sit on a 200-acre dream ranch.

He put a great deal of his heart into the project and the next day he handed it in to his teacher. Two days later he received his work back. On the front page was a large red F with a note that read, `See me after class.’

The boy with the dream went to see the teacher after class and asked, “Why did I receive an F?”

The teacher said, “this is an unrealistic dream for a young boy like you. You have no money. You come from an itinerant family. You have no resources. Owning a horse ranch requires a lot of money. You have to buy the land. You have to pay for the original breeding stock and later you’ll have to pay large stud fees. There’s no way you could ever do it.” Then the teacher added, “If you will rewrite this paper with a more realistic goal, I will reconsider your grade.”

The boy went home and thought about it long and hard. He asked his father what he should do. His father said, “Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this. However, I think it is a very important decision for you.”

Finally, after sitting with it for a week, the boy turned in the same paper, making no changes at all.

He stated, “You can keep the F and I’ll keep my dream.”

Monty reached his dream and his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch. Later in life, that same school teacher brought 30 students to a field trip to Monty’s Ranch.

Don’t let anyone steal your dreams. Follow your heart, no matter what.   No Dream is too big or too small when one works hard to live it.  One should always try making dreams come true no matter what.