Ways to Build Dreams by Renée Watson

Author:Renée Watson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781547610198
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Ms. Anderson says, “Sometimes there will be people who judge you because of how you look, or what you wear, or what you believe, or where you live. Sometimes, they will think they know you, so they will assume things about you, but they will only know some of your story, not all of it. That is why it is important to know who you are. It is important that when you look in the mirror, you can say something kind to yourself, that you know there is not one person on this earth like you. You are an original.” Then, Ms. Anderson says something Grandma, and Mom, and Dad have been telling me since the day I was born, “You were put on this earth to do something.”

I hear this all the time. That I have a purpose, that I should live up to my name, Ryan—and be a leader and be thoughtful and be kind. That I should dream of what I can be and do. Hearing all of this makes me feel extra special, makes my heart flutter knowing there’s no one else like me on this whole entire earth. But it also makes me worry that maybe I am not dreaming big enough. Maybe I need to think of something more important to be and do. Because being a chef is definitely not going to change the world. And being a good big sister isn’t going to do much either. The things I want feel too simple, too regular to write down.

Ms. Anderson does that thing teachers do when they want to make sure you are doing your work and not goofing off. She walks slowly around the classroom, making sure we are all on task. I don’t want her to see that I haven’t written anything on my paper, so I just start writing the alphabet and then my name over and over so it looks like I am deep in thought, dreaming big, big, big. I fill up a whole page pretending like I am coming up with plans on how to change the world. Pretending, pretending.

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