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.

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.

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.

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

Someday for Dad!

Four years ago at age 58, my father suffered a severe stroke that has left him paralyzed on the right side, and with aphasia. After having the stroke we learned that he sustained a large amount of brain damage and would require full time care, which my mother provides. His only real way of living is to observe others and by listening to what is going on around him. Even though our health insurance feels that he has reached his maximum potential, and is basically hopeless, all it takes is a look into his cornflower blue eyes when his grandkids are outside playing/laughing, as he sits by a window listening from his wheel-chair, to know he is still there and with us in many ways. We would gladly wheel him outside, but, we have a large wasp and bee population, that we can’t get under control. Since my Dad has a lot of nerve damage in his lower body, he could get stung and we would never know. This could turn into an infection/abscess which could ultimately lead to further amputations. So my "Someday Dream" is to give him back to he who never asked for anything luxurious or frivolent ever and enclosed porch or sun room. If I could give him a small piece outside safely, this would it. Have you ever seen a 63 year old man get excited and happy because he spotted a baby chipmunk scampering across the grass? I have and it's wonderful...

Putting the dream back together

My husband and I were finally where we planned to be in life. Both had good jobs & we were planning to build a home on our property. Then the call came. My husband was being life flighted as a result of a construction collapse where he was working. His life was slipping away from him. They doubted he'd ever survive. I thank God he did. He was however, severely injured head to toe. For 3 weeks he fought for life. We spent the entire summer in the hospital as he recovered & as they worked hard to save his right leg. He is now totally blinded and to date has endured 14 different surgeries related to the accident. He is still in Physical therapy 10 months later, and is just beginning training to learn to live in a sightless world. My husband is an incredible man. Keeping his faith in life and the lord through it all.

We still live in the old mobile on our land, but it is falling apart around us. We are on a tight budget and very fixed income, as I must be at home to care for my husband and take him to his many appointments. We still dream of the day we can have a home that is safe, comfortable and warm in the winter. It would be an awesome blessing to win this, and be able to fulfill our dream. Thank you.

Sneeze the Day

I closed the book and a cloud of dust filled the air. I sneezed, but it did not bother me because the book and the books surrounding it are my dream, and the dream of my friends. I know the musky smell and how the delicate pages feel against my fingertips, but I also know how much more books have to offer. Books activate the imagination and make the reader question their world. This is what we want to offer our community. We want a bookstore where adventure can be traded for philosophy, philosophy for romance, and romance for history. Though our bookstore does not exist, our ideas, love of books, and ambition will bring it to fruition. We know the day will come when Bill and Clay will be working twelve hour days at the store and the only guaranteed income will be Amanda’s and my teachers’ salaries. We know that the first months will be difficult, but we know that our success is a success for the community. We believe that it is too important for a community to go without a place that promotes literacy among all its residents. The books have been piling up in storage. Plans for bookshelves have been made. Costs have been evaluated. Budgets have been tweaked. Business plans have been written and rewritten. It is only a matter of time before our dream becomes a reality, and when it happens, I will triumphantly sneeze the day away.

Someday JayLeen's Event Center will be open for business

After being a foods teacher for years I returned to school and received an associate degree in Culinary Arts. While working in a hotel restaurant I began pursuing my first dream of catering. A banker in Colorado believed in my idea. She took my idea of a mobile catering kitchen and with different Wells Fargo business accounts helped me put together loans to get my business started. I now have a 26' trailer with a commercial kitchen inside. My husband and I recently relocated to Central Kansas and are working at building my business here. Living in Kansas with many rural areas I am able to go to remote locations with my kitchen to prepare exquisite meals on location. I am slowly increasing in bookings and continue to market my catering services through radio and my website. My dream is to someday have an event center on our 20-acre home site to host special events such as reunions, weddings, business meetings, cooking classes and other gatherings for the community where I chose to live. Once my event center is started I want to continue expanding by adding a bed and breakfast. My place has a pond and an old barn that can provide people a place to come for a great get away. The community I live in has the small town friendly atmosphere and will benefit with an event center. I am over 50 and looking forward to entertaining and sharing my place in coming years.

Dream Girl

When my daughter was born 17 years ago, I never thought I'd be raising a gifted entrepreneur. At age 13, EmilyLeah, started her own magazine for girls. With little help, she raised start-up funds, created a website, wrote press releases, solicited content, designed the cover, graphics and layout, and found a printer. During the past four years her business has grown and become part of our family life. Yaldah (Hebrew for girl) has subscribers worldwide, an editorial board of talented girls, and two paid employees. Yaldah has been featured in the Boston Globe, Jerusalem Post, American Girl, Inspiremetoday.com, IdeaCafe, Dream Girl and several other publications. Yaldah magazine's mission is to empower girls to follow their passion and dreams, to inspire creativity and leadership, and to celebrate Jewish values. Yaldah is at a turning point. It is growing faster than its budget. Subscriptions don't cover the cost of professional color printing. My daughter has yet to pay herself. Everyday she receives fan mail from girls who have been inspired by Yaldah. For now, this is her greatest reward. But my daughter dreams big. My someday dream is to invest in her vision. This will allow her to increase advertising, hire staff (she does way too much!), and launch her newest project: Yaldah books for girls. As editor and publisher, my daughter has exchanged a typical teen life for one of purpose, determination, and hard work. I hope Wells Fargo will invest in this promising young woman.

Lemon Tea

I wrote the screenplay, "Lemon Tea", in 1993. It is the story of a young girl who is ashamed of her dark skin until she learns that beauty comes in myriad of shades and the kind that lasts forever, comes from the heart. The script has received numerous awards and has had readings at Chicago's Second City (1998) and New York's Nuyorican Poet's Café (1998). Nevertheless, it seems that nobody wants to produce a feature film about the friendship between two little black girls.

A friend, Rita G. Lewis, had optioned the rights to the script and decided to film a six-minute scene and a trailer in hopes of attracting investors. On Saturday, December 10, 2005, "Losing Olivia" was filmed. Harry Lennix, fresh off the set of Commander-in-Chief, took a red-eye from L.A. to Chicago to play the role of Cleotis, the little girl's father. Irma P. Hall, a consummate actor in her own right and a champion of the screenplay, played the role of Ma'dear, the little girl's grandmother. The director, Katherine Nero, flew in from New York. The crew was composed of dedicated and professional men and women, many of whom had donated their time and craft to make this momentous experience possible. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life!

My "Someday" goal is to see "Lemon Tea" in its entirety on the big (or little) screen in the near future.

Wife and Mom to Fledgling Entrepreneur

A few years ago, my husband and some close friends encouraged me to start a business selling my fresh, handmade body products. I had originally formulated them to try and battle the dry skin that I had always suffered from; a condition that got worse after my two children were born. After tons of research and trial and error, I hit upon some formulations that worked for me and was happily surprised when the people that I shared them with told me how much they loved them.

Since my youngest was by then in preschool, I decided to take the advice of family and friends and started Product Body. From day one everything Product Body sold was hand-formulated from fresh ingredients and shipped promptly. The response was wonderful and this past year we introduced a line of all-natural products for pregnant women and moms. Still, despite wonderful press and customer feedback, we are struggling to "turn the corner." I still formulate every product myself in a formulary we built at home, do all the PR and sales, and personally work with all of our customers.

Someday I hope to be able to move to a dedicated formulary and hire some staff to help me grow my fledgling business. I love what I do and take great pride in it but can't wear this many hats forever. My dream is to get the assistance I need to reach a level of sustainable success.
http://www.productbody.com

Cooking from around the World

Somewhere in between the can of soup we learned to cook in Home Ec. and attending Le Cordon Bleu lays my ‘Someday.’ Someday, I intend to open a school geared toward those who want to learn how to cook, yet aren’t interested in becoming gourmet chefs. Furthermore, what really differentiates this school from others will be its emphasis on not just teaching standard American dishes, but the basics from various ethnic cuisines.

For all who may have longed to spend a few evenings in the kitchen of their favorite Mexican, Thai, Chinese, etc. restaurant and learn by watching, I present an even better opportunity. At this school, people enroll in their desired cuisine course. Each session then consists of several weeks during which they learn to cook hands-on various basic meals common to that particular ethnic group. This is ideal for those of us who need the sort of supervised training that can’t be obtained through a video or cookbook.

The initial set-up will involve renting and/or outfitting a space to be equipped with multiple stoves and ovens. There shall be preferably no more than four students per workspace. Next, of course will be the hiring of teachers- people familiar with the particular cuisine either due to having worked in certain restaurants or by heritage.

Though starting as a local venture, I envision the school eventually growing to a national and even international level.

Fajitas, chicken curry, Pad Thai – It’s what’s for dinner!