Between June 9 and August 25, a featured story will win the Story of the Week prize of $1,000. So start writing Today and make it yours!
Congratulations to Eric from Buford, Georgia!
He's our fourth feature Someday Story of the Week Winner and $1,000 richer!
Here' Eric's Story:
A Musical Journey and Dream
What made you decide to start playing music? The first time I heard this question it caught me off guard. I don't remember a time in my life that I hadn't been playing music. I started playing piano and writing songs at the age of 6. I don't have any memory prior to this; I just remember being drawn to it as if it were simply something I needed to do. This calling has followed me my entire life and brought me to this moment.
My name is Eric Michael Hopper. I am now a songwriter and professional recording artist. I say “professional” because this is how I make a living, however the manner in which I arrived here is unconventional to say the least. I recorded my life's dream onto CD without the support of a label or agent, and released it into cyberspace. In a leap of faith, I have launched my career using the internet as a platform for reaching out to the fans of music, who in turn have helped me achieve things I could only have dreamed of… like performing on national television, gaining sponsors, and winning several nationwide contests. My journey has continued on determination and sweat equity alone.
Someday I am hoping to fund my own record label and support a tour to go out and meet the people who have helped me continue to follow my dreams. I hope that the folks at Wells Fargo will be among them.
http://www.ericmichaelhopper.com
http://www.youtube.com/ericmichaelhopper
http://www.myspace.com/ericmichaelhopper
Congratulations to Matthew from Hermosa Beach, California!
He's our third feature Someday Story of the Week Winner and $1,000 richer!
Here's Matthew's Story:
The Story of a College Graduate
I began college at an in-state university in Washington, my home state. Soon, though, I had a strong pull to pursue my dream of running cross country and track for a sunny-weather NCAA program. A couple of month later, I landed at one of the most expensive, yet beautiful, campuses in the country. Here, I attained an exemplary education, as well as a six-figure student loan debt.
Now that I have incurred a monthly payment equivalent to a modest mortgage, I realize that my financial burden is overwhelming and spoiling my hopes of starting a business with my fellow cross country runner from college.
The business idea is simple: take high school athletes and build a website to promote college athletic programs, invite college coaches to participate in recruiting, and facilitate social networking between both local and intercontinental high school and college athletes.
We have the website built, business plan written, but no money to hire computer programmers who can develop the platform on which the website operates. A team of talented programmers is going to cost upwards of $300,000, since so few people know the code for social networking.
You may say, 'what about investors?' Well, since we are so young and have so little capital to put into the company ourselves, getting investors will be next to impossible - the pesky catch 22, it takes money to make money.
Winning this contest would help me out tremendously, both financially and entrepreneurially speaking.
Congratulations to Nicole from Saint Paul, Minnesota!
She's our second feature Someday Story of the Week Winner and $1,000 richer!
Here's Nicole's Story:
Someday I will change an industry and the world
I loved school growing up. In college, I minored in education with the dream of becoming a teacher. Through volunteer work at local high schools, I became discouraged and lost hope in our education system. There were so many children that teachers had given up on, who had in turn, given up on themselves. I gave up, heartbroken and discouraged.
Out of college, with a fairly useless theatre degree in hand, I realized where my true path lies. I needed to start younger. I have a way with children and have always been captivated with how they view and approach the world. I started researching. For every $1 put into early childhood education, our nation makes a $7 return. This fall, I enrolled in a master's program to get a degree in early childhood education. Right now the field is fraught with issues, namely very high turnover, poor training for many employees, misguided government policies, and a disorganized education system that leaves many children without the quality care needed to make a difference. My someday is to own and develop my own childcare center model that understands the need and benefit of well-trained and compensated staff, that provides informed, holistic care for children, that is an innovator in the industry and a voice for higher standards that integrate the leading research and theories in the field. Between student loans and business start up costs, that someday is far off.
Congratulations to Daniel from Provo, Utah!
He's our first feature Someday Story of the Week Winner and $1,000 richer!
Here's Daniel's Story:
A Second Chance at Life
As my compact-size sedan spun wildly out of control on that lonely Arizona highway, every memory, dream, and regret of my life flashed before my young eyes. At 23 years of age, my expectations of becoming an accountant were diminished to simply surviving the crumpled heap of metal that was my car, drenched in cold rain and blood. Time would reveal a new agenda for me through this important tragedy in my life.
A broken pelvis and femur bone stranded me in an unfamiliar hospital environment among doctors, nurses, and physical therapists. Throughout the coming months, I would experience more pain, discomfort, and sense of achievement than I had ever felt before. Learning to walk again strengthened me more spiritually than it did physically. My experience in physical therapy as a patient has led me to pursue a new dream: to serve others in recovery as a physical therapist. Starting down this new path in college has been an intimidating and exciting adventure! It has sculpted me into an absolutely different person than who I was that night, fighting for survival in that dark Arizona desert.
Now, as a financially struggling undergraduate student, young husband, and soon-to-be father, the pressure is on to reach out, past the obstacles and barriers of life, and seize my dreams! Someday, I will fulfill my dreams by using my challenging life experiences to strengthen my patients and make a difference in this world, as a physical therapist.
