The price of my dream, and yours
Sebastian Abraham
What's My Shade?
Carl Brashear had to wait outside the gate of Navy Diving School quite a while. The sentry had refused him an entry.
An African-American by birth, Brashear had grown up in a very poor background in the rural South. But right from his childhood he cherished his dream of pursuing a career in the U.S. Navy. His dream did become a reality, but he had to face a lot of hurdles because racism was pretty widespread then.
It was not the Navy he had dreamt of ... until the day he saw Chief Billy Sunday diving into the sea during an underwater operation and ended up attempting to save the lives of a few of his drowning compatriots. Brashear knew then that deep-sea salvage diving was "the call" of his life. He decided to ask for a transfer to the Navy Diving School. Though his commanding officer was pretty sure that an African-American wouldn't be permitted inside the school in spite of his recommendation, Brashear was determined. And permission was granted.
At the school, the sentry wouldn't let him in, so the prediction of the officer came true. As he was standing outside the gate, an alert Brashear saw a car approaching from the school. Envisaging a senior officer, he readied himself to salute.
To his surprise he was saluting Chief Billy Sunday. The chief was serving a term as an instructor in the school. He stopped to inquire what brought Brashear to the school. Brashear expressed his desire to become a diver. Chief was more than amused. No African-American had ever gone beyond a particular rank in the Navy, let alone become a diver.
The chief asked him to return from where he came. While the chief thought that he had given his piece of advice to the young man and had gone his way, Brashear stood there. He couldn't feel the sweat trickling from his brow; his knee wouldn't tire of standing. All he knew was that he wanted to become a diver and that only joining the school would take him to his goal.
The day was done but he stood. The chief returned to the gate after his long trip. Brashear showed no sign of fatigue as he saluted him cheerfully — and he continued to stand. Seeing a determination of rare kind, Chief was left with no choice but to ask the sentry to let Brashear in.
Like Brashear, my goals cannot be redirected, controlled or altered by circumstances or people — unless I let them do so. In that sense the control of my destiny lies in my hands. While most people think that a lot of things in our lives depend on others and circumstances and some even go to the extent of believing in fate, in actuality a huge amount depends on me. While I am approaching my goal the key question to ask myself is: Do I lose focus when I encounter hurdles?
While I face obstacles, can I maintain the same spirit (to achieve the goal) as when I began? If need be, am I ready to re-charge myself?
If a hindrance can stop you from pursuing your goals then perhaps you didn't want to achieve it badly enough. Criticizing the circumstances, fate or people involved would be the cheapest and least effective resort to reach the goal. It is in my hand not to let anyone's remark or action direct my move. I know my path and I will walk it come what may.
The primary criteria to achieve anything in this world is whether you want it badly enough and whether you are prepared to pay the price.
I was inspired to write this article after seeing the movie "Men Of Honor" directed by George Tillman Jr. It presents the real-life story of Carl Brashear, the first African-American, deep-sea salvage diver in the history of the U.S. Navy. Amidst racism, military bureaucracy and losing his leg Brashear braved his way to show that you can achieve your dream if you want it badly enough and if you are ready to pay the price.
This column was written by Sebastian Abraham. "What's My Shade?" is a biweekly column organized by Multicultural Student Programs and Services. Abraham can be contacted at seb_an@yahoo.co.uk.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Wednesday, February 27, 2002
