I am not a writer.
I remember in elementary school, I knew I was going to be an astronaut.
That one day, I’d be among the stars, uncovering the mysteries of the galaxy with my hero as we travel “to infinity and beyond.”
I’d get to see everything I saw while walking through NASA, but in person and with others who aspired to do the unthinkable, see the unimaginable.
I remember in middle school, I knew I was going to be a professional baseball player.
That my father would get to live vicariously through me as I accomplished everything he had hoped he and his brother would accomplish growing up.
I’d be playing alongside my idols; becoming one of them while traveling the world playing the game I love for the rest of my life.
I remember in high school, I knew I was going to be a doctor.
That my purpose in life was to provide care to children who grew up in similar circumstances as myself, living in financial circumstances beyond their control or understanding.
I’d care for the marginalized and be a vessel of hope for children who might constantly be under the impression that success is just a pipe dream for someone in their shoes.
When you finally grow up, you start to notice things about people and their dreams. Some let their dreams die, others continue to chase them. Some hear dreams as fantasy, others hear them as conviction. This perspective has brought me to this realization:
I am not a writer
I am an astronaut.
I’ve traveled to the furthest unknown and documented the reality of time and space.
I’ve done the unthinkable, seen the unimaginable, inspiring an entire generation to seek discomfort and dream beyond what the world deems as possible. To look to infinity, and beyond.
I am a professional baseball player.
I’ve been there. My childhood idol on the mound, bottom of the ninth, two outs, bases loaded, down by 3. I swing the bat and I’ve done it. A walk-off grand slam.
I am the hometown kid, spending my entire career as a San Francisco Giant, just as my family had dreamed of.
I am a doctor.
After years of research, my team and I have finally found cures for childhood cancers.
We’ve ensured a reality and a world in which no child has to worry about not being able to live out a dream or miss an experience; where a kid can be a kid.
We are born with the innate ability to dream; to become anything we want through pure imagination. Becoming an adult may have meant the end of my childhood, but it did not mean the end of my dreams. As a working professional, my resume might say I am, but to this day, I know:
I am not a writer.