If the Dream is Big EnoughI used to watch her from my kitchen window, she seemed so small as she 1)muscled her way through the crowd of boys on the playground.The school was across the street from our home and I would often watch the kids as they played during recess.

A sea of children, and yet to me, she stood out from them all.I remr the first day I saw her playing basketball.Iwatched in wonder as she ran circles around the other kids.She managed to shoot jump shots just over their heads and into thenet.The boys always tried to stop her but no one could.

I began to notice her at other times, basketball in hand, playing alone.She would practice 2)dribbling and shooting over and over again,sometimes until dark. One day I asked her why she practiced so much. She looked directly in my eyes and without a momentofhesitation she said, "I want to go to college. The only way I can go is if I get a scholarship. I like basketball. I decided that if I were good enough, I would get a scholarship. I am going to play college basketball. I want to be the best. My Daddy told me ifthedream is big enough, the facts don't count." Then she smiledandran towards the court to 3)recap the routine I had seen overandover again.Well, I had to give it to her-she was determined.I watched her through those junior high years and into highschool.Every week, she led her 4)varsity team to victory.

One day inhersenior year, I saw her sitting in the grass, head cradled inherarms. I walked across the street and sat down in the cool grass beside her. Quietly I asked what was wrong. "Oh, nothing,"came asoft reply. "I am just too short." The coach told her that at5'5"she would probably never get to play for a top ranked team-muchless offered a scholarship-so she should stop dreaming abou tcollege.

She was heart broken and I felt my own throat tightenas Isensed her disappointment. I asked her if she had talked to herdadabout it yet.She lifted her head from her hands and told methather father said those coaches were wrong. They just did not understand the power of a dream. He told her that if she really wanted to play for a good college, if she truly wanted a scholarship, that nothing could stop her except one thing - her own attitude. He told her again, "If the dream is big enough, the facts don't count."

The next year, as she and her team went to the Northern California Championship game, she was seen by acollege5)recruiter. She was indeed offered a scholarship, a fullride, toa Division I, 6)NCAA women's basketball team. She was going to get the college education that she had dreamed of and worked toward forall those years.
It's true: If the dream is big enough,the factsdon't count.