There was a young man born in a poor family. As a result, his school career was continually interrupted. Once he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be and do when he grew up. That night he 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. 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 paper 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 have no resources from your family. 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." Recollecting the story ,my friend Monty and I are now sitting in his 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of a 200-acre horse ranch. Two summers ago that same schoolteacher brought 30 kids to camp out on his ranch. When the teacher was leaving, he said,"Look, Monty ,I can tell you this now. When I was your teacher,I was something of a dream stealer. During those years I stole a lot of kids' dreams. Fortunately you had enough gumption not to give up on yours."