From Wishing to Hoping to Reality – –Ronnie Stotts

What do you wish for when you see a falling star? Many people wish

that they were rich or that they had a new car, a house, or something of

material value. Other people in the world wish for happiness, health, love,

peace, or equality. Different things are important to different people, so their

wishes are going to be as different as they are. Everyone needs something to

wish for, but sometimes wishes are unattainable. For example, no matter how

hard we work to change the past, it can never truly be reversed. Then some

people have a sickness that cannot be cured. Since all wishes cannot be

granted with a magic lamp or a star, people may feel helpless and want to give

up. This is where hope comes into our lives. As long as there is hope, people

will not give up on their wishes. And with hard work and sometimes a little

good fortune—as I believe my life shows, our hopes can become realities.

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When I was quite young, I was diagnosed with acute asthma. Doctors

said that I should not run or play because it would worsen my condition. So, it

was best to avoid any physical activity. I would lie awake at night wheezing; the

sound reminded me of Thomas the Tank. It sounded like an engine, and I could

never fall asleep. I would cough sometimes until I vomited, and I could not

breathe. My throat would tighten. I would be scared for my life. Was this the

end of my short existence? My parents took me to one doctor after another. I

would have nightmares about the next doctor’s visit. It was always the same:

the doctor would come in, ask my parents about my condition, and I would sit

lifeless in the chair. The doctor never asked me any questions. It seemed as if I

didn’t matter. They would prescribe numerous varieties of drugs, and then I

would be sent home. During this difficult time, my parents read me many fairy

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tales, including some about magic lamps that could grant a wish. I particularly

liked the story of Pinocchio and how he wanted to be a real boy. To truly live

was my wish; I wished that I could be a real boy. I wanted to play baseball and

basketball and to run on the playground like all the other children. Could my

wish ever come true? Sometimes I doubted that it could. I knew that Pinocchio

could not be a real boy, so I thought this wish could never come true either.

Then one day, I was staying at my grandparents’ house when I had the

worst asthma attack yet. I could not breathe, and I started gasping for air. My

grandmother rushed me to the doctor’s office, to a doctor I had not seen

before. When I entered his office, I could tell Dr. Brock was different from the

other doctors I had seen. First, he shook my hand and asked me, “How are you

feeling?” Then he asked me more specific questions about my feelings and my

condition, such as, “Where, exactly, does your chest hurt?” He seemed very

interested in me, and he called me “blue eyes.” I told him that I wished to play

like other kids, but I could not because of my asthma. Then he gave me my

wish; he told me that I could become normal with time and the right treatments.

That day, my life changed forever. I realized that someday I might be able to

play sports or even run on the playground. I had the chance to truly live. How

can one man affect someone’s life this much? I cannot answer that question.

But, I know that Dr. Brock gave me my wish. I did nothing but take a breathing

treatment every night, and I was magically cured. This is what the gift of a wish

truly is—something that comes from nothing. It is not earned or worked for, and

it is always unexpected when it happens. A wish just seems to happen.

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A year or two later, when I started kindergarten, the teacher asked us

what we wanted to do when we grew up. I said I wanted to be a doctor like Dr.

Brock. My teacher told me I would need to be smart if I wanted to become a

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doctor. I listened to those words, and I started reading every book in the library

that I could find. I had heard that people who read were intelligent. At the end

of the year, the teacher tested me on my reading skills, and I was on a second-

grade reading level. I was working toward my dream. Not long after the year

started, I had my birthday party at McDonald’s. When I was about to blow the

candles out on my Lion King cake, everyone said, “make a wish!” I wished to

be a doctor just like Dr. Brock when I grew up. My wish to become a doctor has

been something that I have wanted for every waking moment from then on.

As I grew older, I began to realize that wishes were something magical

and hopes were something that could become real. My dream of becoming a

doctor has become more than just a child’s wish. Instead of just expecting my

desire to magically happen like a wish upon a star, my aspiration of becoming a

doctor has become a lifelong hope. Everything from the time I wake up to the

time I fall asleep is focused on that goal. I push myself in everything I do to

become stronger, faster, and more knowledgeable and determined than I have

been in the past. I still remember an assignment in eighth grade. My teacher

asked us to pick two careers and explore both of the careers. I told her that I

was going to be a doctor, and, more specifically, a pediatrician. She chuckled

while telling me how impossible it was for a person like me to become a doctor

and that I would have to choose a second career option. So I chose another

career and did the task.

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The teacher’s chuckles and doubt made me start questioning myself for the

first time. Was it really possible for me to become a doctor? Was this just some

silly childhood wish? What if no matter how hard I tried, it was not possible?

These were some of the questions I started to ask myself. Then I found my

answers by thinking about my uncle. He also had started out in a poor family

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with little hope of a bright future. Yet, he fought through the low expectations of

the world to achieve his goal. My uncle worked hard to make good grades and

did without material items to achieve his dream. He graduated from Chapel Hill

in North Carolina with a Ph.D. in chemistry, and he now works for Merck

Pharmaceutical in Pennsylvania. He showed me how a hope can become a

reality. I realized that—even though it will be difficult sometimes, if I believe in

my dream enough, it can and will happen. He taught me that my own decisions

would decide my future. My uncle made me believe that I can become a doctor.

He is a great inspiration and model for me to base my life upon because he has

been in the same situation that I am. Today I am working on my bachelor’s

degree, and, in a few years, I plan to enter medical school and turn my dream

of becoming a doctor into my own reality. As a pediatrician, I believe that I can

give children the hope that Dr. Brock gave me and maybe grant a few wishes.

Over many years, I have come to realize people rarely appreciate a

wish that is too easily granted. If something is handed to us on a silver platter,

we don’t really recognize the value of it; if something is not earned, it is not

valued. A diamond, for example, takes millenniums to form, decades to mine,

and years to be refined. A diamond is like the reality that comes from a great

hope that is earned through hard work and a little bit of luck.

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