名稱：big dreams (full speed ahead)
內容簡介：
Dear Arizona,
　　I always look forward to winter because skiing is my life! My dream is to be on the Olympic ski team. Do you think that's completely unrealistic?
　 —Dreaming in Denver

Dear Dreaming,
　　The Olympics are so incredible! Last winter I got into watching them with my best guy friend, Ollie, and his amazing grandma. (We both call her Abuela.) When the snowboarders came on, Abuela said, "I'd give anything to be able to do that!"

“You should try it!” I said.

“We could go up to the mountains!” said Ollie.

“Hmm,” said Abuela. “Maybe we should drive up and get a lesson for the two of you.”

“Don’t you mean for the three of us?” I asked.

Abuela laughed. “I’m too old to try a young person’s sport. Besides, I doubt they’d even let someone my age sign up for a class.”

Just then on TV, the camera zoomed in on a guy who had set a snowboarding record. “It must feel like flying,” Abuela murmured. She turned to us. “Oh, who cares how old I am? I’m going to follow my dream and give it a try. As I always say, where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

Luckily, my parents agreed to let me go to the mountains with Ollie and Abuela at the end of the month. To help out with the cost of equipment rental, the lesson, and the lift ticket, I did extra baby-sitting and helped out in my parents’ grocery store.

At last, the day of our trip arrived! We left at the crack of dawn. The drive would’ve seemed to take forever if we hadn’t been singing songs, playing car games, and eating snacks from the big bag of food my mom had packed.

When we finally got to the lodge, we bought our lift tickets, rented our gear, and hurried to get ready for our lesson.

“Wait!” said Ollie. “I can’t seem to get these boots on!”

“Ollie-by-golly!” I pointed at his feet. “How about trying a crazy experiment and putting your right boot on your right foot and your left boot on your left foot?”

Ollie laughed. “That might help, huh?” Anyway, after Ollie put his boots on correctly, and found his missing glove, and ate one last bite of banana, we finally got going.

“Welcome to Level One Snowboarding Class!” said our nice instructor, Tony. “I hope you’ve all had a good night’s rest and a nourishing breakfast, because the more energy you have, the more fun you’ll have!”

After we learned how to turn and stop in a pretty f lat area, Tony took us to the top of the bunny hill for some real practice. “Oh, and, ma’am,” he said quietly to Abuela, “if you need to stop and rest for any reason at all, just sit down and I’ll come over to check on you.”

Ollie and I saw Abuela smile politely at our teacher—but we also noticed an especially sparkly twinkle in her eye.

“OK, gang, here we go,” Tony said, leading the way. “Remember, don’t rush to get down the mountain.”

To this day, Abuela tries to convince Ollie and me that what happened next was an accident, but we still say it looked pretty much “on purpose” to us.

You see, while everyone else was taking it nice and slow, going down the bunny hill from side to side, Abuela pointed the front of her snowboard straight ahead. At first, she was going the same speed as the rest of us. But as soon as she got to a steeper spot, she started zooming down the hill as if she were trying to break an Olympic record!

“Woo-hoo!” she yelled, zipping by in a blur.

When the rest of us caught up to her at the bottom, she was lying in the snow and laughing the biggest, happiest laugh ever.

“Are you OK?” Tony asked, sounding concerned.

“Oh, I’m a whole lot better than OK,” said Abuela. “I’m fantastic! I didn’t mean to go straight down like that, but once I realized I couldn’t stop, I decided to go ahead! And you know—it really did feel like flying! Yes, indeed, where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

So, dear Dreaming, I think your goal to compete in the Olympics is totally cool. Keep practicing and thinking positively, and become the best skier you can be! Who knows? Your best might even be good enough for the Olympics!

And for anyone else out there who’s always wanted to try something but (for one reason or another) has been afraid to go for it, just think of Abuela. As she always says, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”

Ciao for now,

Arizona