It’s never too late to dream

“If you can dream it, you can achieve it”.                           Walt Disney

During a lesson with one of my students this past week, a profound conversation unfolded which I immediately thought would make a great motivational subject to kickstart the week. Liam, an adult student, 23 years of age, called in  a few weeks ago for some tuition in literacy and numeracy. I asked him to come in for an assessment where he scored a reading age of just under 6 years. Like many students, Liam (not his real name) didn’t grasp the mechanics of reading in his earlier school years and as it happens in the school system, students are promoted from one grade to the other even graduating with a year 12 certificate  while barely being able to read. 

He enrolled for three lessons a week and we teach him reading, maths and for one of the lessons I try to work on life skills. In the last week, Liam had to write down some of his life goals and one of his goals was to get a qualificiation in business. I asked him whether he wanted to open a business and he replied that the family owns a business already and he was hoping to take control of it and manage it one day. At this point, I asked him what sort of business and he responded, “You’re a smart lady. With my surname you should have worked it out by now.” I didn’t have a clue and coerced him to tell me. Turns out that I rent the premise for my tuition business at the shopping centre his family owns. What do you know! This is not the profound part - what is, is the fact for someone who can barely read, he has the dream to overcome his lack of education and go on to run this big ( and it is really big!) corporation. I was really moved with his intent. 

The lesson continued where I reminded him that while it is okay to dream big, a dream is actually a goal with a plan and a deadline  in place. We then redefined his aspiration into a SMART goal - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely. We also worked on what sort of business study he would enter into (Property Management) and what were the requirements to one day enrol for that course. For now, Liam has to work on a functional level of literacy and numeracy before we look at the next step. In the last three weeks that Liam has been enrolled, he has turned up on time for every single lesson three times a week, put in the effort and has completed all homework. With his strong desire and commitment to the goal, I am very confident that he will realise his dreams. 

Similarly,  few years ago, a lady rang me and told me that her husband is 57 years old, has a job with the council but cannot be promoted because he can’t read or write. He grew up in a remote farming district where he was just taught to count and sign his name as that was all the skills that he needed to count the sheep on his family farm. He was enrolled for reading and attended as regular as clockwork two evenings a week after work. Within 18 months he had acquired a functional level of literacy being able to read, write and spelI. I must confess his tutor and I were prouder than him when the lights switched on in terms of his literacy. 

So often, things go awry in life and for whatever reason some people do not attain an acceptable level of literacy or numeracy. They could have had learning difficulties like dyslexia, dysgraphia, attention deficit disorder etc. or experienced some domestic circumstances that hindered the progress of reading and writing. Like I always say there are some activities in life that you can simply quit if you are not good at it like sport, singing, doing art or handcrafts, cooking, gardening or performance. However, when it comes to the fundamentals of reading and writing, you can’t just give up because your whole life is dependent on it. 

Can you imagine what life is for someone who can’t read? Every part of your day requires you to do some reading to achieve a task. Liam shared with me during another conversation that he just orders what the others are having when he eats out at a restaurant because the words on the menu doesn’t make any sense to him. I am so looking forward to shouting Liam lunch in the not too distant future when he can order his own choice of meal from the menu. 

One of the most heartening movies I watched on Netflix was “The First Grader” directed by Justin Chadwick and written by Ann Peacock which tells the remarkable true story of Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, an illiterate member of the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya who enrolled in a rural primary school in 2003, when he was 84. In 2002, the Kenyan government announced free education for all and the ex- war veteran and farmer rocks up at the school eager to learn. However, there are lots of obstacles in his quest for learning where parents complain about an old man fraternising with their children. Thankfully, his teacher becomes the old man’s champion and privately teaches him to read while ignoring the other forces working against them. Some scenes in the movie really tugs at your heartstrings when this octogenarian is struggling to learn his letters and numbers to the amusement of his six-year old classmates. Maruge, after many stops and starts went on to pass the 6th standard before he passed on from stomach cancer in 2009. What an inspiration! 

Maruge holds the Guinness Book of Records as the oldest person at 84 years to start primary school. This proves beyond any doubt that it is never too late to start dreaming. It does not matter how old you are, you too, can pursue a dream that you didn’t have the time for, couldn’t afford or because circumstances didn’t allow. So what are you waiting for? As Sean Stephenson so eloquently puts it: “If you have a heartbeat, there’s still time to dream.”

 Have a fabulous week as we close off the month of May, Folks! Dare to dream!